


I'm going to try (to fall in love with you again)

by thatsformetoknow



Series: I’m going to try (and fall in love with you again) [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Getting Back Together, M/M, also ft. both bottom lance and bottom shiro bc, and everything goes downhill from there, basically shiro comes over after watching a school play and he and lance hook up, but then they fall back in love with each other and its ?? soft, i just ??, its really soft i know things sound bleak but trust me, its so soft im crying, its the fuckin fluffiest thing, separated shance, shance have a child, shes pure, we all need that content in our lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-10-16 09:20:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 74,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17546942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsformetoknow/pseuds/thatsformetoknow
Summary: Shiro gave a small whine, turning onto his side and pulling Lance against his chest, and Lance really didn’t have it in him to stop him. They’d already fucked, what was the worst a little cuddling could do?Lance sighed, snuggling back against him, Shiro resting his head between Lance’s shoulder blades, arm slung across his waist.This was fine.Fine. Yes. This was fine. All of this…Was fine.Lance was now in bed cuddling with his ex husband, after they had just had sex. Absolutely nothing about this was fine.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks dodie for releasing ur ep just in time for me to snatch some lyrics ur a real one

“Daddy!” Ella called happily, falling over herself in her attempt to run to Shiro as he knelt down, arms outstretched and she flung herself into them. “You came.”

“Of course I came, princess.” He said, holding her tightly. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

“You were so good, angel.” Lance said softly, gently ruffling her hair. “We’re so proud of you.”

“I didn’t pull at my outfit, just like you said, papa.” Ella said, looking up at him and Shiro stood up, lifting her into his arms.

“I know, baby. You looked amazing.” He smiled, leaning in to kiss her on the nose.

“Daddy…?” She asked, biting her lip. “Are you staying for dinner?”

Shiro glanced at Lance and then back at Ella. “Yes, princess. Daddy’s staying for dinner. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to spend some time with my little girl now, could I?”

Ella gave a soft giggle, resting against Shiro’s chest and clutching onto him.

“Come on then, let’s get home. You wanna ride in the car with daddy, baby girl?” Lance asked and Ella nodded. “Okay, let me get your car seat out, yeah?”

Lance drove his car over to where Shiro was parked, putting Ella’s car seat in the back of Shiro’s car and strapping her in.

“See you at home then.” He said with a smile, kissing her forehead. “Drive safe.” He said to Shiro, before getting back into his own car.

He started up the engine, pulling out of the parking lot and beginning the journey back to their house. His and Ella’s house. Shiro hadn’t lived there in… what must have been pushing a year now. No, Lance knew it was. He knew the date Shiro moved out by heart. 

He was over it now, that was fine. He and Shiro were on good terms, and that was what mattered. But Ella missed him. He wasn’t around very often, because of work, so that’s why there hadn’t been much of a dispute as to who Ella would live with, no matter how much Lance knew it hurt Shiro. It was what was best for her.

Lance got to the house first, parking up and unlocking the door, taking his shoes off and running a hand through his hair. He could really have gone for a glass of wine right about now. 

Having Shiro over was… fine. It was fine. They were friends. They’d been friends first and they were friends now. They were both healed from the break up, which… had been hard. Really hard. But things were okay now. It was just sometimes a little hard not to slip back into old ways when he was around, and Lance knew it was the same for Shiro.

But it was okay, they were managing, and Lance had to manage, for Ella’s sake. 

He poured himself a glass of water instead, taking a long swig as he heard Shiro pull up in the driveway. 

“Papa, papa, papa!” Ella squealed as they came in, rushing into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around his legs.

“Hey sweetheart.” Lance smiled, stroking her head. 

“Can we have spaghetti?” He asked and Lance hummed. 

“Did you ask daddy if he wants spaghetti?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ella looked at Shiro sheepishly, going over to him and he knelt down. 

“Daddy, do you want spaghetti?” She asked and Shiro made a contemplative noise. She threw her arms around his neck. “Please say yes.” She whispered.

“Yes, daddy wants spaghetti.” Shiro nodded and Ella gave a small cheer.

“Okay, go and show daddy the princess dress that grandma got you, while I make it, okay?” Lance said and Ella nodded, grabbing onto Shiro’s arm and dragging him down the hall to her bedroom.

Lance blew out a breath, getting the spaghetti out of the cupboard and setting it to cook. He flicked on the tv, setting about making the sauce, smiling as he heard Ella shriek with laughter from down the hall.

“Need any help?” Shiro’s voice came a few minutes later as Lance was taking the pasta off of the heat, stirring the sauce.

“It’s just spaghetti, Shiro.” Lance said with a soft laugh, shaking his head.

“Still. I don’t want to be rude…”

Lance turned to look at him with a fond smile, crossing his arms across his chest. “You’re not a guest, you’re family. And if I recall, you never did any of the cooking, anyway. It’s too late to start now.”

Shiro laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down.

“Go and play with Ella some more. You’re here to see her, anyway. Not help me cook.”

Shiro gave a soft sigh, brows pinching into a frown, nodding and turning back down the hall. Yeah, Lance could really have gone for a glass of wine.

It didn’t take long for Lance to finish the meal up, dishing up three plates and putting them on the table, along with three glasses of water.

“Ella!” Lance called and a few moments later Ella and Shiro came into the dining room, sitting down at the table.

“So, let’s talk about that marvelous play, Ells.” Shiro said with a smile as he picked up his fork.

“Papa helped me learn all my lines and we practiced every night.” Ella said with a wide smile, digging into her own food. “And he helped make my costume with auntie Allura.”

“Well, it paid off, you were amazing. And you looked amazing too.” He smiled and Ella gave a shy smile.

“Thank you, daddy. I practiced really hard.”

“It shows, princess.” He said softly. “You were the star of the show.”

“Are you coming to the other ones, daddy? We’re doing it again tomorrow and the day after.”

Shiro bit his lip, frowning.

“Sweetheart, you know daddy’s very busy with work.” Lance said softly, laying a hand over hers. “And he took the time off to come and see you tonight, because he really wanted to see you and he missed you.”

Ella nodded, looking down. “I know.”

“But I’m gonna come to them both, okay? And tomorrow I’m bringing Auntie Katie and Uncle Hunk. And then on Friday Uncle Keith and Auntie Allura are coming, yeah?”

Ella nodded. “Yeah. That’s good. But daddy’s coming back at the weekend right?” She asked, eyes wide. “You said you’d take me for ice cream, daddy.” She said, looking at Shiro.

Shiro cleared his throat. “If that’s alright with your papa, then of course I will, baby girl.”

Lance gave a soft smile and nodded. “So you’ve the weekend to look forward too as well, angel.”

“Daddy, can we play some more after dinner?” 

“Well, I really should help your papa clean up…”

Lance shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I do it every other night.” He said, shaking his head with a smile. “You’re here to see Ella.”

“Thank you.” He said softly with a smile, and then he and Ella headed back into her bedroom while Lance cleared the table, stacking the dishwasher and setting it off, giving in and pouring himself a glass of wine. 

He let them play until Ella’s bedtime, knocking on the door and poking his head round, smiling as he saw them both knelt in front of her dollshouse, playing.

“Hey beautiful, I’m afraid you know what time it is.” He said and Ella sighed.

“You have to let me tuck the family into bed first, papa.” She said, jutting her bottom lip out and Lance nodded, moving to sit on the bed as Ella tucked each of the dolls into their beds.

“You want daddy to read you a story?” Lance asked and Ella nodded quickly. “Okay, get in your pyjamas and brush your teeth first then, hm?”

Ella nodded, getting up and getting her pyjamas out, quickly changing and then going into the bathroom.

Shiro got up with a sigh, moving over to the bookshelf, looking over the books and picking one out, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Lance.

Ella came back in, quickly clambering into bed and Lance tucked her in, kissing her forehead. 

“I’ll let daddy read then, yeah? I hope you have sweet dreams, beautiful.” He said, getting up.

“Night night, papa.” Ella said, watching him as he went.

Lance sighed as he left the room, getting his glass and going to sit down on the couch. He didn’t need to be there for the bedtime story reading… He did it every night, anyway. And this was Shiro’s time with Ella, Lance didn’t want to infringe on that. And also… he didn’t… he didn’t really want to sit there the three of them like that, because they’d used to sit like that sometimes, when Ella was younger. And it wasn’t like that anymore.

“Fast asleep.” Shiro said softly as he came into the living room a little while later.

“Perfect, thank you.” Lance smiled. 

“I should, uh, probably get going.” He said softly.

Lance blew out a breath, taking a sip of his wine. “You want to stay for a glass of wine?” He asked and Shiro barely even hesitated before saying yes.

He followed Lance into the kitchen as he poured Shiro a glass and then topped up his own. He didn’t really know why he’d invited Shiro to stay. He was here to see Ella, after all.

But Shiro had agreed quicker than Lance would have if it had been him, and Lance was just so _tired_.

And so maybe sitting on the couch drinking wine with his ex husband wasn’t exactly where he thought the night was headed, but he was finding… he could actually… care less. Shiro was his friend, as much as he was his ex. And he missed that, if not anything else.

“So how’s work then?” Lance asked with a hum, third glasses poured each.

Shiro chuckled softly. “You don’t want to ask about that, Lance. You know how it is, same old same old. Busy. It’s a lot. But, it’s good. Tell me about yours instead.”

Shiro’s work had always been a touchy subject between the two of them, as the amount of time and energy it required from him was… significantly more than either of them (Lance) would have liked, and Lance was reluctant to admit that that had been the basis of a lot of their fights.

Lance shrugged. “What’s there to tell about mine? I go to work and I teach a bunch of little kids how to read and how to colour inside of the lines, and how to share with each other. You went to school once, you know the drill.” 

Shiro snorted. “Okay… personal then. Seeing anyone?”

Lance scoffed, shaking his head. “Was. For a bit. Nothing serious, though, so.” 

Shiro nodded in understanding. “Ah, I see.” 

“Yeah. You?”

Shiro shook his head. “No, I haven’t uh.. Had the time, I guess.”

Lance looked at him. “Have you dated _anyone_?”

Shiro sighed. “Lance, the last person I dated was you and I married you.”

“Oh.” He said softly. 

He hadn’t really… expected that. Shiro was gorgeous, anyone could see that. But he supposed it made sense. If Shiro was too busy for his family, he’d be too busy to go on casual dates. Lance had dated maybe three people since his and Shiro’s split, plus a few more hook ups than Lance would have admitted to. 

“It’s been a year, Shiro.” He said anyway, and Shiro shrugged.

“I don’t like it when you call me _Shiro_. It feels wrong.”

Lance sighed. It also felt wrong to be calling him Takashi. He’d started calling him Shiro again after the split, something he had to do for himself, and even though it didn’t hurt anymore, it didn’t feel right to switch back.

“Don’t avoid the question, _Takashi_.” He murmured, deciding to humour him this once. “A whole year? You haven’t been with anyone?”

Shiro shrugged. “Not really, no. I’d rather use my free time to come and see Ells, you know?”

“You need a new job.” Lance muttered and Shiro rolled his eyes.

“Don’t start.”

“I’m not starting anything.” Lance snapped and then checked himself. “I’m just saying. I mean, what about sex? Have you had sex with anyone?”

Shiro groaned running a hand over his face and downing the last bit of wine he had in his cup. 

“No, Lance. I have not had sex. Probably the most I have had is a drunken handjob.”

Lance tilted his head, with a hum. 

“Figures you’d be getting all the boys.” Shiro said, shaking his head with a soft smile.

“And the girls.” Lance said with a wink. 

“Mmm, knew there was a reason I married you.” Shiro hummed.

Lance’s jaw dropped open. “Yeah, and what would that be, huh?” He asked, lightly poking Shiro in the chest.

“How completely sexy you are.” He said and Lance scoffed, cheeks turning a little pink.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s real romantic, that is.”

“Well, I doubt I need to go into the reasons I _really_ married you. Because I’m drunk enough to.”

“We don’t need to talk about the reasons we got married, Shiro. We’re not married anymore.”

“Technically, we are.” Shiro said with a shrug.

Lance sighed. Yeah, technically they were just separated. They hadn’t filed the divorce papers yet, but that was always somewhere on Lance’s to-do list, that he never got around to.

“Yeah, well. It’s not the same thing, is it?”

“No, I suppose it isn’t.” Shiro said, brows pinching into a frown, taking Lance’s glass from him and finishing it off, putting it down on the coffee table.

“What was that for?” Lance scowled but Shiro just grinned.

“Cause I wanna kiss you.” He murmured.

Oh.

“And why would you want to do that, hm?” Lance asked, breath catching as Shiro moved in close, gently sweeping his hair behind his ear and cupping his head.

“Because you’re beautiful.” He murmured and Lance could feel his breath against his lips, didn’t have the sense to move back. 

“Because you’re drunk.” Lance countered softly.

“Because you are, too.” He said and Lance didn’t move back as he pressed their lips together, didn’t do anything but let himself be pulled into Shiro’s lap, looping his arms around his neck as their lips moved over each others.

“You’re a menace.” Lance said softly, head tipping back as Shiro messily kissed down his neck, hands sliding down to his waist.

“You like me that way.” Shiro murmured, sucking at the skin, nipping and making Lance give a soft breathy gasp.

“Asshole. Don’t do that.” Lance said, with not very much conviction.

“Do what, this?” Shiro asked, biting down into his skin and Lance gave a soft moan.

“Yes that.”

“You always did like it.” Shiro hummed, soothing the bite with soft kisses.

“Shut up.” Lance snapped, and Shiro huffed a laugh against him.

“Tell me you want me.” He murmured.

Lance didn’t say anything, gritting his teeth as Shiro rocked his hips up against Lance’s and god. Lance moaned softly, eyes fluttering, rocking back against him.

“Lance.” Shiro said, hands moving to cup his ass, squeezing a little as he pulled Lance in a soft grind over his lap.

“I want you.” He breathed, loathe to admit it, but he did, god he did.

“You can blame it on the alcohol, sweetheart.” Shiro murmured, standing up, pulling Lance up with him and carrying him down the hall to their- Lance’s- bedroom, putting him down on the bed.

He swallowed, looking down at Lance and Lance could only think of how he looked, laid out for him, flushed and breathing heavily, shirt having ridden up a little, exposing his abdomen.

“You’re so beautiful.” Shiro murmured, leaning over him to kiss him again.

“Takashi…” Lance breathed, pushing his body up against Shiro’s as his hands rucked Shiro’s shirt up, fingertips pressing into his back as he tried to get it off.

“Always so impatient, little one.” Shiro said softly, leaning back to pull his shirt up over his head and then pulling Lance’s off, dropping them off the edge of the bed.

“Shut up.” Lance breathed, pulling Shiro back down over him, nipping at his jaw as his hands trailed down his back to his ass, pulling Shiro against him and they both moaned.

“Baby, I want you.” Shiro murmured through a soft moan.

“Don’t call me baby.” Lance said, shaking his head, still rocking up against him.

Shiro pressed his lips against the shell of Lance’s ear in a soft kiss. “ _Baby, I want you._.” He said and Lance shivered. 

“Take me.” He said softly back, pushing Shiro off of him and sitting up to unbutton his pants, shoving them down Shiro’s thighs as much as he easily could, cupping his erection through his underwear. 

Shiro moaned softly, quick to unbutton Lance’s pants, pulling them down before moving to rid himself of the rest of his clothing, waiting for Lance to do the same, and then grabbing a condom and the lube from the drawer.

Lance held his hand out for the lube and Shiro frowned.

“I’ll do it.” He said softly.

“I can do it.” Lance said, frowning back.

“You know I like to do it.” He said softly and Lance softened. Yes, he did know that. He’d just, been used to doing it himself lately.

“Okay.” He said softly, laying back against the bed and spreading his legs for Shiro. “You can do it.”

Shiro was as gentle as he remembered, slipping a slick finger easily into him, and then a second when he was ready, carefully stretching them inside of him, teasing him in ways that had Lance squirming on the bed, rocking his hips.

“Please…” He whined softly and Shiro slid in a third, stretching him out, carefully avoiding his prostate, leaning over him to wrap his lips around a nipple, flicking his tongue across the bud and sucking softly.

Lance cried out softly, throwing an arm across his mouth. They couldn’t wake Ella. Shiro hummed, sucking a little harder as he crooked his fingers, pressing directly against his prostate and Lance’s body jerked and he keened.

“Shh, baby.” Shiro murmured, pressing soft kisses over his chest.

“Please, fuck, please, I need you.” Lance moaned and Shiro gave a soft groan, settling himself between Lance’s legs and running a hand over himself before unwrapping the condom and sliding it down over his cock.

Shiro leant over him, carefully lining himself up, swallowing Lance’s moan in a kiss as he pushed into him, gripping his hips as he slid in further.

“Move-” Lance hissed out after a few moments, already rocking his hips and Shiro kissed down his neck, bringing one hand up to cup over Lance’s mouth as he groaned against his skin, gently biting at his collar bones.

He rocked into him, gently at first, picking up the pace quickly as Lance gasped and moaned, fingers digging into his back, legs wrapping around his waist, heels digging into him in an attempt to pull him in deeper.

And yeah, maybe Lance had had a hell of a lot more sex than Shiro had had since they’d split, but _god_ no one was like Shiro… No one was Shiro. And god, Shiro was so fucking good.

Neither of them lasted particularly long, moaning against each other as Shiro snapped his hips into him, Lance’s body jerking as he cried out against Shiro’s hand with each hit against his prostate, leaking cock rutting up against Shiro’s abdomen as Shiro thrust quickly into him.

Shiro was using his other arm to prop himself up, otherwise he would have been fisting quickly over Lance’s cock, and Lance really, really, would have done it himself if he could comprehend even for a moment how to stop clinging to Shiro, nails digging into him, raking over him as they rocked together.

So he rut up against Shiro the best he could, cock leaking all over himself as Lance whimpered breathily, unable to warn Shiro before he came, loud moan muffled by Shiro’s hand, spilling hard over his abdomen and Shiro’s groan was wrecked as Lance clenched around him, riding out his orgasm.

Shiro kept fucking into him, each thrust punctuated with a groan against his neck, muffled a little, thrusts growing erratic before he groaned, spilling into the condom, hips stuttering as he fucked into Lance through his orgasm, and then pulled out, laying on top of Lance as they both panted heavily.

“Fuck.” Lance breathed weakly as Shiro let his hand fall away from his mouth, feeling significantly sobered up after that.

“Fuck.” Shiro agreed and Lance had to push him off of his chest before he fell asleep there.

Shiro gave a small whine, turning onto his side and pulling Lance against his chest, and Lance really didn’t have it in him to stop him. They’d already fucked, what was the worst a little cuddling could do? 

Lance sighed, snuggling back against him, Shiro resting his head between Lance’s shoulder blades, arm slung across his waist.

This was fine.

Fine. Yes. This was fine. All of this…Was fine.

Lance was now in bed cuddling with his ex husband, after they had just had sex. Absolutely nothing about this was fine. 

 

***

 

The bed was empty when Lance’s alarm went off, and Lance wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or disappointed. Shiro’s clothes were gone, but there was a tied off condom tossed in the waste bin, so Lance at least knew he hadn’t dreamt it.

He sighed, pulling on some clean pyjamas, padding out into the hall, frowning as he heard Ella chattering away to herself in the kitchen.

“Look, papa!” She said excitedly from where she was sitting at the breakfast bar as Lance came in. “Daddy stayed over!”

Lance followed his gaze to where Shiro was standing in the kitchen, over the hob and he glanced over his shoulder to give him a wide smile.

“Oh yes, so he did, angel.” Lance said, still feeling confused with sleep, running his hand through his hair. “What are you doing?”

“I’m making breakfast.” He said, gesturing to the pan.

“I asked daddy if he’d make us some pancakes, papa.”

Lance’s brows pinched in confusion. “You… don’t know how to make pancakes.”

“I told daddy to look it up on the internet.” Ella said knowledgeable with a nod. “And now he knows how!”

“Oh… well, that’s nice.” Lance said, shaking his head and moving around the breakfast bar to kiss Ella on the head. “Don’t think that just because daddy’s here our rules don’t apply, hm? Teeth, hair, clothes, breakfast.”

“Teeth, hair, clothes, breakfast.” Ella agreed, hopping down and rushing down the hall to the bathroom.

“Don’t you have work?” Lance asked and Shiro smiled.

“I called in sick for the morning.” He said and Lance frowned. Why… would Shiro do that?

“Uh. Right. Well, Ella and I have to get to school soon, so. You really, uh, didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to.” He said softly. “And I wanted to apologise, for last night.” 

Lance was quiet for a moment. “There’s nothing to apologise for.”

“I… feel like there is. You’re acting…”

“Like what?” Lance asked, folding his arms over his chest. “Like I always do? Like I’m your ex husband?”

“No, I just thought-”

“You thought what…? That us sleeping together… means something? Other than the fact we were both drunk and horny and maybe I felt a little bad for you that you haven’t had sex in so long?”

“Lance…” Shiro said, recoiling a little at that.

“Why did you call in sick? You’re coming back at the weekend, Shiro. I can handle breakfast. Like I do every day. Like I do everything else every other day. You didn’t need to make yourself late for work, when you weren’t invited for breakfast.”

Shiro swallowed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t… want to just leave without saying goodbye.”

“Yeah, well.” Lance said, running a hand through his hair. 

“I just wanted to spend the morning with you and Ella.” He said softly.

Lance scoffed. “You-? Oh you wanted to spend the morning with me and Ella? So you took the morning off work? You know, that’s really _fucking rich_ , Shiro. That really is.”

“Lance-”

“No. Don’t. Don’t you dare. Just go.” He said, clenching his jaw. “You don’t get to stand here and tell me you took the morning off because you wanted to spend it with _me and Ella_. Not when you know _exactly_ why our marriage fell apart, Shiro, you don’t _get_ to do that. You get to leave. Now.”

Shiro took a step back, nodding, looking away from Lance as he headed for the door.

Lance blew out a shaky breath, running his hands over his face. Fuck, that was not good. He shouldn’t have done that. 

“I’m all dressed, papa!” Ella called, rushing back down the hall, skidding to a stop by the kitchen, and then looking at Lance. “Where’s daddy?”

Lance swallowed. Fuck. “Uh. Daddy had to go, baby girl.” He said softly, heart breaking as he watched her face fall. This was all his fault, he should have just dealt with it. He never should have fucking slept with him in the first place. God, what an idiot.

“W-Where did he have to go? H-he was making p-pancakes…” She asked, eyes filling with tears.

Lance knelt down in front of her, pulling her against him, holding her close.

“I’m sorry, baby, I’m so sorry.” He said softly, feeling his own eyes prick. He was a terrible father, he’d gone and ruined Ella’s morning, just because he was feeling angry and resentful. “I’ll finish the pancakes, yeah?”

Ella shook her head. “Don’t want pancakes anymore.” She said softly. “I’ll have cereal.”

Lance bit his lip, standing up and getting a bowl out, filling it with cereal and then milk, setting it on the counter for her with a spoon. 

“Daddy’s coming back at the weekend, okay? He’s gonna take you out for ice cream.” Lance said softly and Ella nodded.

“Yeah.”

Lance drove them to school once they were done with breakfast, bringing Ella with him to his classroom, as he still had a little while before the other children would arrive.

“Can you go and play over there for a while, sweetie?” Lance asked softly.

“Those are baby toys, papa.” Ella said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Please? I need to call your father.”

Ella sighed and nodded, going over to the toy section and sitting down. Lance pulled out his phone, sitting down at his desk and pulling up Shiro’s contact details. It was probably best to get this out of the way now.

“Yeah?” He heard Shiro ask with a soft sigh as he answered the phone.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Lance said, running a hand over his face. “I shouldn’t have gone off on you like that.”

“It’s okay, I mean, you had every right.” Shiro said softly.

Lance sighed. “We don’t need to drag up old history.”

“You’re allowed to still be angry at me, Lance.”

“Look, last night… shouldn’t have happened.” He said, biting his lip. 

“I know. We were drunk.”

“We were _excusing it_. That’s what you said.”

Shiro sighed. “I was drunk, you know I was.”

“Yeah. Well, I just wanted to apologise, okay? Do you want to talk to Ella quickly?”

“That’d be great.”  
Lance nodded, calling Ella over and handing the phone to her, giving a soft groan and resting his head on the desk. He and Shiro were always a mess. They hadn’t really… had a fight since the first few weeks after they broke up, and Lance wanted to keep it that way. They cared about each other, of course they did, and they both loved their daughter more than anything. They just… had fallen apart and they hadn’t been able to put themselves back together. And that was just the way it was. 

It wasn’t… entirely Shiro’s fault, as much as Lance liked to tell himself that it was. It was a lot his, too. And he didn’t like thinking about it… because of how much it had hurt. Both of them. All of them. It had hurt all of them.

Because Lance could easily tell himself it was Shiro’s fault. That Shiro had been working too much, too late, too many days a week, too little time for him and Ella. Lance could tell himself that Shiro hadn’t cared enough to try and lessen his hours, but he knew that wasn’t true. He knew that Shiro had tried his damned hardest to get his hours lessened, but that the only other option was to quit and look for another job. And they couldn’t afford to do that.

So Lance could also easily tell himself that it was his fault. That he had been too clingy, too stubborn. Asked too much of Shiro and gotten mad when he couldn’t make it work. Gotten mad when he wouldn’t quit for their sake, find somewhere else. That he’d rather go on the way things were than struggle for a bit, but make thing better in the long run.

Except things hadn’t gone down that route, and so maybe, probably, definitely, it was both of their faults and they’d both done things wrong and hadn’t compromised or tried hard enough to keep everything from falling apart, from slipping through the net. And so now Shiro lived in an apartment just outside of town, and Lance and Ella lived alone.

Lance hadn’t gotten around to filing the papers yet, even though they’d both signed them. He hadn’t gotten around to it. Hadn’t been able to quite bring himself to yet and it had been a year, sure. Lance was okay, he wasn’t hurting or pining anymore. And he didn’t know why he hadn’t done it yet. He didn’t.

He took his phone back from Ella, kissing her forehead as the first few children began to arrive, and she stopped by the door, giving him a wave and blowing him a kiss. He caught it and placed it against the centre of his chest, blowing her one back. She caught it and did the same, and then she was gone.

 

***

 

Saturday rolled around quicker than Lance would have maybe liked, and Ella was launching herself into Shiro’s arms after Lance opened the front door.

“Put your shoes on, baby.” Lance said and Ella nodded happily, going to lace up her boots, something that she’d been insistent on doing herself since Shiro taught her how to do it.

“Papa, are you coming too?” 

“I- uh…” Lance looked at Shiro, biting his lip.

“You can ask papa if he wants to come along, princess.”

“Do you wanna, papa? Do you?”

Lance smiled softly at that, nodding. “I’d love to.” He smiled, moving to put his own shoes on.

“Great.” Shiro smiled, and then they got into Shiro’s car, Ella choosing the radio station, as they drove to the ice cream parlour.

Ella happily skipped inside, despite Lance calling after her to slow down, and Shiro laughed softly.

“You still like honeycomb?” He asked and Lance nodded. They waited in line, and then Shiro gave their order. “That’ll be one honeycomb, one mint choc chip and one strawberry, please. With flakes.”

Lance grabbed onto Ella’s hand before she could run off anywhere else, wrapping the cone in a napkin and giving her the ice cream, picking up his own as Shiro paid and then the three of them walked outside, sitting down on a picnic bench.

“How were your last two performances, princess?” Shiro asked.

“Really good! And I saw Auntie Katie and Uncle Hunk and Auntie Allura and Uncle Keith. Auntie Allura says I should be an actress.” She said proudly.

“Well, I’m sure she’s not wrong there, princess. You were really good.”

“Thanks, daddy.” Ella smiled. “When are you gonna make me pancakes for breakfast, daddy?” She asked, pouting. “We didn’t get to have them because you left and then they were ruined.”

Lance winced a little at that. It was his fault.

“One day soon, princess, okay? I promise. I’ll make you and papa pancakes for breakfast.”

“And remember I want blueberry syrup on mine.” 

“I remember.” He nodded.

“Papa, can we go to the swings after this?” She asked hopefully.

“Well… I don’t see why not. Unless daddy has something else to do then we can, angel.”

“Can we, daddy?”

“I think that’s a great idea.” Shiro smiled and Ella made a happy squealing noise. “Careful, your ice cream’s dripping.”

They walked along to the playground after they were finished, taking turns pushing Ella on the swings, before sitting down on a bench together as she rushed around on the other things there.

“You good?” Shiro asked softly and Lance nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, I still… feel bad about before. For yelling at you.” 

“Lance, I promise. It’s okay.” He said softly. 

Lance nodded. “Yeah… Okay.” He agreed softly. “How’s things with you?”

“Good, yeah. Busy, but… you know. As is.”

Lance gave a short laugh. “As is.” He echoed. Yeah, he knew. “Ella got star of the week this week, I don’t know if she forgot to tell you.”

“That… that sounds like a good thing.”

Lance laughed. “It is. Every class once a week has a star of the week. And someone’s chosen for… whatever good thing it was that they did. Ella got hers for kindness. Apparently some child in one of the younger years fell over and cut their knee and she took them to the nurse.”

Shiro smiled. “That’s our girl.”

Lance smiled too. “Yeah. That’s our girl.” He repeated, and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. “You busy this evening?” He asked.

Shiro shook his head. “No, why?”

“Well, I’ve been coerced into making eggy bread, which as we know, is Ella’s favourite. But it was also yours, so… If you want, I can make some for you too.”

“I’d really like that.” Shiro smiled. “Thank you.”

“No wine.” He said and Shiro huffed a laugh.

“No wine.” He agreed.

 

***

 

Lance ended up in Shiro’s lap again anyway. 

No wine, just… yeah, there wasn't really anything Lance could blame it on this time. Except that it was late, and the lights were low, Ella was long in bed, and when Shiro cupped his face, stroking his thumb over his cheek and leant in, Lance met him halfway.

And one kiss had turned into many, tongues and breathless moans, hips rocking, desperately grinding their crotches together, moaning. Rushed, desperate. Zippers unzipped, swallowing each other’s moans as hands were around lengths, pumping quickly, messily, just working each other to completion.

And then they were panting, hips still rocking a little as they came down from their high, foreheads pressed together, clothes messed and stained.

Lance gave a shaky sigh, pressing his forehead into the crook of Shiro’s neck as Shiro stroked lazy patterns onto the small of his back. Fuck.

“We…” Lance started, breaking off with a sigh. 

“We what?” Shiro asked gently.

Should stop this. Shouldn’t be doing this. Shouldn’t even be here at all. 

“Should clean up.” Was what came out instead and Shiro nodded, carrying Lance down to the bedroom and Lance really hated the familiarity of it, how easy it was. 

He carried him into the bathroom and they both stripped down, and then Lance wet some washcloths, washing their abdomens and then washing his hands in the sink, dumping his clothes in the laundry basket and then going back into the bedroom, climbing into bed and waiting for Shiro.

“So I should um, probably go.” He said softly.

“Stay.” Lance said softly, pulling back the cover for him. God, he shouldn’t have said that.

“Are you sure?” Shiro asked, biting his lip as he got in bed next to him. 

Lance nodded, pulling Shiro’s arm over his waist. “It’s the weekend, so… You’re off work, right?”

He felt Shiro nod.

“Then you can stay. And you can make your daughter pancakes in the morning.”

“Thank you.” Shiro said softly, curling himself around Lance, holding him close and Lance leant into the touch, nodding.

“Night.” He said softly.

“Sweet dreams.” Shiro murmured, pressing a kiss to his shoulder blade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I??? this was gonna be a oneshot but suDDENLY PLOT APPEARED
> 
> so stay tuned fam its a coming
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated <3
> 
>  
> 
> you can,,, yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know)


	2. Chapter 2

Lance was warm when he woke up, Shiro’s body still curled around him, and he gave a soft sigh, not wanting to open his eyes just yet. It was familiar in a sort of, unfamiliar way. Something that he was so used to, and yet so unused to at the same time.

As long as Shiro wasn’t awake for, Lance could stay pressed against him, warm and comfortable. He turned onto his back after a few minutes, and Shiro’s brows pinched in his sleep, snuggling into Lance’s chest, holding onto him tighter.

Lance smiled softly at that, and he probably shouldn’t have. He looked down at him, still peacefully sleeping, a small frown on his face that smoothed out after a few moments, and Lance gently laced his fingers through Shiro’s hair, drawing it back off of his face. He was so pretty, so so pretty and Lance really… didn’t know what he was doing. 

He didn’t know what in the name of hell he was doing, but… he supposed for now that it didn’t much matter. He couldn’t blame alcohol this time. He’d kissed Shiro because he’d wanted to. Got off with him because he’d wanted to. Plain and simple. 

And Lance… really didn’t know what that meant. For them. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do when Shiro woke up, or how he was supposed to act, and if he was supposed to tell him that again, it was a mistake. Or if he was just supposed to… go with it. Maybe… keep doing it? Just for a while. It didn’t have to mean anything. Not really.

Shiro gave a soft sleepy groan, wrinkling his nose, frowning again, as if trying to convince himself to stay asleep just a little longer. 

Eventually it seemed he gave up, eyes fluttering open, looking up at Lance and the softest smile slowly came onto his face.

“Hey,” he said softly, voice rough and quiet with sleep, leaning up, leaning in and then pulling back a little, watching a small confused frown form on Shiro’s face, before he realised and looked away. Almost like he’d been so sleepy he’d just… forgotten. Forgotten that things weren’t supposed to be like this.

But who was to say what things were supposed to be like anyway? 

Lance gently cupped his face, pressing their lips together and he felt Shiro smile against them.

“Hey,” he said softly back, letting his lips linger, just lightly brushing against each other for a moment. 

Shiro smiled softly, before nestling his head into the crook of Lance’s neck and giving a soft contented sigh. And if this was setting off alarm bells in Lance’s head? He was sure as hell ignoring them. 

He could do this, if he wanted to. He could sleep with his ex husband. Sure. He could do that. It didn’t have to mean anything. Cuddling all night and being soft in the morning didn’t have to mean anything. 

“Sleep okay?” Lance asked softly, gently tracing absent minded patterns into the small of Shiro’s back with his fingertips.

Shiro nodded against him, not moving. “Mmmhm. Better than in a while.” He admitted softly. “You?”

Lance bit his lip. “Yeah, me too.”

“Mmm… Do you think Ella’s up yet, or can we stay in bed a little longer…?” Shiro asked.

Lance hummed. “Well… I’d say probably the last thing we want is her coming in here.” He said with a soft laugh. “So, we should probably get up, hm?”

Shiro made a soft whining noise. “Don’t wanna.”

“Whyyy?” Lance asked in the same whining tone, smiling.

“Cause. Like cuddling with you.” He mumbled. “Miss cuddling with you.”

Oh. 

“Shiro…” Lance said softly. “This… This is just… sex, right?” 

A beat passed and then Shiro nodded. “Yeah,” He agreed. “Just sex.” 

Lance nodded. “Let’s get up, come on. You can borrow a shirt.”

Shiro groaned softly but nodded, heaving himself up and out of the bed, running his hands over his face as he yawned.

Lance got up, moving over to the dresser and getting dressed as Shiro went into the bathroom to get the rest of his clothes. Lance hummed, looking through his drawers for something that might fit Shiro. He couldn’t exactly wear a shirt that was stained with cum. 

He eventually found one that had always been a little big on him, giving it to Shiro as he came back in, flushing as Shiro smirked at him, noting how Lance’s eyes caught on his bare chest.

“Shut up,” Lance said, rolling his eyes and Shiro snickered.

“You did always have a thing for my chest.”

“Sorry, it’s not my fault you’re hot.” Lance rolled his eyes, watching as Shiro put the shirt on.

Shiro laughed and followed him out into the kitchen, getting the ingredients out, stopping to check on his phone to make sure he was getting the recipe right.

“You want some help?” Lance asked, pouring a glass of juice.

“That would be good.” Shiro smiled, nodding, offering his phone to Lance to look at the recipe.

“I know how to make pancakes, Shiro.” Lance said with a soft laugh, putting the ingredients into the bowl as Shiro flushed.

“Well… a recipe never hurts.” He pouted and Lance laughed, making a well in the middle of the mixture.

“Eggs please.” Lance said and Shiro nodded, getting them and cracking them into the middle of the mixture.

“I didn’t know when I asked for help you would be taking over.”

Lance grinned, adding the other wet ingredients. “You know me better than that, Shiro. You can get the pan ready while I mix, hm?”

“Yes, chef.” Shiro said, going over to the stove and melting butter in a pan, as Lance whisked the mixture.

“All ready?” Lance asked once it was smooth, bringing it over and setting it on the side, standing behind Shiro on his tiptoes, chin rested on his shoulder.

“Mmmhm.” Shiro nodded, leaning back against Lance, turning his head to catch his lips against his cheek.

Lance brought a hand up to cup his cheek, guiding their lips together. Shiro kissed him softly back for a few moments before frowning and pulling back, looking at him sceptically.

“You… have put mixture on my face, haven’t you?” 

Lance giggled. “Guilty.” 

Shiro shook his head with a soft laugh, rubbing his cheek. “Pour the mixture in, ass.”

Lance poured some into the pan, watching it cook, slightly distracted as Shiro came up behind him, wrapping an arm around him and nuzzling his nose against his neck and pressing soft kisses to the skin.

Lance gave a soft sigh, biting his lip, tipping his head backwards a little against Shiro’s shoulder, giving a small gasp as Shiro began to suck a little.

Shiro hummed softly, looking up and pulling back, resting his chin on Lance’s shoulder as he picked up the pan. 

“Gotta flip.” He said with a smile. “Wish me luck.” 

It was a close call, but Shiro managed to keep it in the pan, and gave a small cheer, putting it back on the heat, reattaching his lips to Lance’s neck, gently nipping and sucking a mark into his skin.

“Takashi…” Lance murmured in a soft moan, and he felt Shiro’s lips curl into a smile against his skin.

Shiro stopped again, serving the pancake onto a plate and starting on the next pancake, and Lance turned in his arms, pressing their lips together.

Shiro wrapped his arm a little more firmly around Lance, pulling him against his body, softly moving their lips over each other’s before pulling away.

Lance smiled softly, eyes staying closed for a moment, trying to chase Shiro’s lips. He squeaked, eyes flying open as he felt something cold and wet against his nose.

“Oops?” Shiro said, a grin on his face.

“Did you just-?” Lance asked, looking between the bowl of pancake mixture and Shiro’s fingertips.

“Payback’s a bitch.” Shiro said softly, gently kissing him again and Lance made a soft growling noise, before softening into the kiss as Shiro gave a giggle against his lips.

They parted a moment later and Shiro picked up the pan, taking it off the heat ready to flip.

“Papa! Daddy!” Ella said happily, rounding the corner into the kitchen, squealing happily as she saw them both, and thankfully they were no longer pressed against one another. The last thing Lance needed was Ella getting the wrong idea.

“Hey, princess. How did you sleep?” Shiro asked, flipping the pancake.

“Really good! Can you do that again?”

Shiro laughed, putting it back on the heat. “Next time, okay? Each one only gets flipped once.”

Ella pouted, climbing up onto a stool at the breakfast bar to watch. “Okaaay.”

Lance cleared his throat, pouring a glass of milk for Ella and giving it to her as Shiro slid the pancake onto the plate and began on the next.

What was he doing? What the fuck was he doing?

Lance suppressed a groan, giving a soft sigh instead, and picking up his glass of juice to take a sip. This was really fucked up.

“Daddy, remember the blueberry syrup.” 

“I know, pumpkin, maybe papa will get it for you?”

Lance nodded, going to the cupboard and getting a few different syrups and toppings out of it and setting them on the counter.

“Okaaaay, this should be Ellbells stack.” Shiro said, putting the third pancake onto the plate, carrying it over to her and drizzling the syrup onto them, and giving her some cutlery.

“Thank you, daddy.” She smiled, digging in.

“And what would papa like on his pancakes?” Shiro asked with a smile, beginning on the next batch. 

Lance hummed, looking at the bottles. “Mmm, maple syrup, I think.” 

“Mm, I think I’ll have that, too.” He said, flipping the pancake, and Ella squealed.

“Do it higher next time, daddy!” She said, clapping.

Shiro grinned, and waited for the next one to be ready to flip, standing in the middle of the kitchen and getting in a prime flipping position.

“Now, are you both watching very carefully?” He asked and Ella nodded, leaning over the counter and Lance nodded too, an affectionate smile on his face.

Shiro flipped the pancake high into the air, deflating as it fell onto the floor beside him. “Oh.” 

Ella giggled. “Daddy! You dropped it!”

“Yes, I can see that.” He said, leaning down to pick it up and throw it away.

“Mm, I think next time it’s my go.” Lance hummed with a grin, sauntering over to the stove and pouring the next lot of mixture in.

Shiro huffed, standing back to lean against the counter, folding his arms across his chest as he waited for Lance to lift the pan, flipping the pancake just as high as Shiro had and catching it flawlessly in the plan.

He smirked and Shiro pouted.

“So I think we know who the _real_ pancake master is.” He said, putting it back on the heat and taking a bow as Ella clapped.

“Ella, please tell daddy that it’s rude not to clap.”

“Daddy’s a sore loser.” Ella giggled and Shiro made some sort of strangled noise of indignation.

“Daddy is absolutely not a sore loser!” He cried and Ella giggled harder.

“Clap for papa then, daddy.” She said and Shiro glared at Lance, reluctantly clapping a few times.

“Thank you very much.” Lance grinned picking the pan back up and sliding the pancake onto the plate.

Two successful more flips later, another failed one from Shiro, before Lance had to take over again, the three of them were sitting down and eating their pancakes.

“So what are you two up to today then?” Shiro asked with a hum, cutting up a piece and popping it into his mouth.

“Mm, nothing much on the agenda I don’t think.” Lance said, biting his lip as he thought about it. There was nothing that he could think of.

“That means we should all do something together.” Ella said and Lance smiled softly.

“Does it now? You didn’t ask daddy if he has plans.”

Ella pouted. “Daddy if you have plans you need to cancel them.”

Lance snorted. “Ells, that was not what I said.”

“Well, lucky for you, princess, daddy’s all free. So what do you want to do, hm?”

“Um, I hadn’t thought that far.” Ella said.

Lance laughed softly. “Well… we could go and feed the ducks and stop by the swings while we’re there if you want, baby, and then get some lunch on the way home.”

“Yes, yes yes, I love feeding the ducks.” Ella nodded quickly. “And I love the swings and I love lunch. And then we can all play princesses when we get home.”

“Yeah? Are you gonna make daddy wear one of your dresses?” Lance asked with a grin.

“Are you gonna make daddy do _what_?” Shiro asked, looking between them.

“I have special dresses for when the grown ups play with me. Auntie Allura gave them to me and I make Uncle Keith wear them. Daddy you can wear the pink one and papa you can wear the blue one.”

“Ah, I see.” Shiro nodded, snickering.

“I have pictures of Keith don’t worry.” Lance grinned.

“Thank god.”

“If you’re ready, baby, then you should go and get dressed, yeah? So we can all get ready and go?”

“Okay, papa.” Ella nodded, hopping down off of the stool and skipping down the hall to her bedroom.

Lance stood up, picking up the plates and moving over to the sink. “You can use the shower first, if you want.”

Shiro hummed, getting up and then Lance felt arms wrap around his waist.

“You should shower with me.” He murmured, nuzzling his neck with his nose.

“That does sound tempting, but I think we shouldn’t both be in there at the same time in case Ella needs something.”

Shiro pouted. “Mmmm. Are you sure?”

Lance blew out a breath, making a noise of deliberation. “Unfortunately… yes.”

Shiro smiled, rolling his eyes playfully. “Fine, if we must be responsible parents, then I suppose we must.” He said, teasingly biting at Lance’s neck.

Lance gave a soft giggle. “You knew what you were signing up for when we adopted her, Shiro. No sex around the house, and unless she’s in bed, those were the rules.”

“Mmmm, I remember, because we fucked in every room the day before we brought her home.”

Lance laughed. “Yes, I remember that very well. We were exhausted.”

“Worth it.”

“It was.” 

“We didn’t follow those rules last night though, did we?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “She was in bed.”

“Ah, ah, ah. They both apply at the same time, something you have reminded me of countless times.”

“Well, we know not to do it again then, hm? Now go and get in the shower before I do something stupid like offer to suck your dick.” He said, snickering at how Shiro’s breath caught.

“That… doesn’t sound like something stupid.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Now go and shower.” He said, elbowing him.

Shiro whined. “Fine. But just for the record, I think you should suck my dick.” 

Lance laughed, shooing him out of the kitchen with a soft laugh, washing up the plates and cleaning up around the kitchen, before going along to Ella’s room to see how she was getting on.

“Hey sweetie, you all dressed?” Lance asked with a smile, popping his head around the door and seeing that Ella was sat by her dollshouse.

“Mhm! I’m ready to go, papa!”

Lance laughed softly. “Hold your horses, sweetheart. Daddy’s still in the shower, and I’ve still got to shower before we can go, hm?”

Ella pouted. “Okaaaay.”

“And don’t forget it’s bath night tonight.”

Ella nodded. “Yes, yes, I remember, papa. Did you get the new bubble bath I wanted?”

“I did, don’t worry.” Lance smiled. “I’ll come and get you when we’re ready, okay?”

“Okay!” Lance went into his bedroom, finding Shiro with a towel slung around his waist, rubbing his hair dry with his towel.

“You shouldn’t do that.” Lance said, raising an eyebrow and Shiro froze, caught.

“It’s bad for my hair, I know, I know. How else am I supposed to get it dry?”

“You could use a hair dryer, or you could just wait.” Lance said, rolling his eyes and going into the bathroom and Shiro followed him in.

“Can I help you?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow as Shiro leant in the doorway.

“No, no, don’t mind me.” Shiro said, a small smirk on his face, watching Lance.

Lance huffed a laugh, pulling his shirt over his head. “Mmhm. I see. I know your game, Shirogane.”

“Can you blame me?” Shiro asked innocently and Lance rolled his eyes, taking the rest of his clothes off and standing with a hand on his hip. 

“Happy?”

“Very.” Shiro smiled, going back into the bedroom, pulling the door to behind him and Lance laughed softly, getting into the shower.

When he’d come back out and gotten dressed, he found Shiro in Ella’s room with her, sat back down at the dollshouse again, which was a current favourite of Ella’s, playing with the little people inside. 

“Come on, you two.” Lance smiled, and they both got up, Ella rushing out of the room.

They went out into the living room and Lance stopped to get some bread from the kitchen, before grabbing up his keys and opening the front door.

The drive to the park wasn’t long, and Ella was soon rushing around excitedly as they walked down to the lake.

As Ella ran ahead, Lance felt Shiro’s fingers lace with his own, and Lance glanced at him, smiling softly and biting his lip. 

It was so natural that Lance barely gave it a second thought, gently stroking his thumb over Shiro’s hand as they walked, catching up to Ella by the pond and then dropping his hand as he undid the tie on the bread, opening it and handing a slice to Ella.

“Break up into little pieces, okay?” He said and she nodded, tearing a little piece off and throwing it into the pond, laughing happily as some ducks crowded around, trying to grab it up out of the water. 

“They’re really hungry.” She said, throwing in a few more bits as they devoured them quickly, quacking loudly as they fought over them. 

“Don’t feed them too much though, okay? One more piece.” Lance said, giving her another slice of bread and watching as she fed it to the ducks. 

Ella played for a little bit on the swings with the other kids in the park after that, rushing around and playing some sort of game that Lance was sure was very fun from the way they were all laughing and squealing, chasing each other around. 

Lance wished things were still that simple for him.

He leant against Shiro with a soft sigh and Shiro wrapped his arm around him. He knew this was a bad idea, he knew that. Any idiot would know that. He just… It wasn’t as simple as that. 

And maybe it was. Maybe it was as simple as that and Lance was just ignoring everything he knew he should be doing and doing the opposite because it… felt good, or some stupid shit like that. Maybe Lance was just an idiot.

Because they would get lunch after this, and then they would go home. And then Lance would put Ella down for a nap, and he’d ask Shiro to stay for a while. And then he’d probably suck his dick. 

And honestly? Right now, Lance didn’t give a fucking damn about what he should or shouldn’t be doing. Because sleeping with his ex husband was something that he decidedly should _not_ be doing. But… It wasn’t _hurting_ anyone… Except himself down the line, but Lance did have a tendency to not care too much about that. 

 

***

 

“Say goodbye to daddy, okay, baby?” Lance said softly as he tucked Ella in for her nap, and Shiro sat down on the bed, leaning down to kiss her forehead. 

“Have sweet dreams, princess.” Shiro said softly. “And I’ll see you very soon, okay?”

Ella nodded. “I love you, daddy.”

“I love you too, beautiful.” Shiro said, gently stroking her hair with a soft smile. 

“Bye, daddy.” Ella said, yawning and closing her eyes. Shiro leant down again to kiss her head, and then stood up, joining Lance by the door and pulling it to behind them. 

“Today was fun.” He said softly and Lance smiled.

“You wanna… stay for a bit?” He asked and Shiro nodded. 

“I would like that a lot.” He said.

“Good.”

Lance reached up to pull Shiro in for a kiss, before taking his hand and pulling him down the hall to his bedroom, closing the door behind them.

Lance pulled him in again once it was closed, pulling Shiro’s shirt up over his head and kissing him again, hands moving to Shiro’s waistband, unbuttoning his pants and pulling them down, backing him up towards the bed and pushing him down off of it, pulling his pants off the rest of the way.

“Lance, slow down.” Shiro said with a soft laugh and Lance rolled his eyes, settling himself between his legs.

“But I want to suck you off,” Lance said with a teasing smile, looking up at him, biting his lip and palming him through his underwear, watching as Shiro swallowed, wetting his lip.

“W-well…”

“Mmm, that’s what I thought.” Lance said, gently coaxing him to full hardness through his underwear, and leaning down to lightly mouth around his cock, dampening the fabric with his tongue and Shiro groaned softly.

“L-Lance…” Shiro breathed, lacing his fingers into his hair.

“Mm?” Lance asked, looking up at him innocently, lightly sucking.

“Please…” He murmured. “Please, baby.” 

Lance tilted his head, thumbing the head of his cock through his underwear, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

“So was I the last person to suck your cock then, Shiro?” Lance asked, biting his lip and Shiro nodded.

“Uh huh, it was you.” He said, hips bucking a little into his touch.

“That’s so long to go without a blowjob.” Lance teased, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his underwear and pulling them down his thighs, freeing his cock.

“T-trust me, I know.” Shiro breathed, gasping a soft moan as Lance wrapped a hand around the base of his cock, beginning to slowly jerk him off. 

“Poor baby.” Lance cooed, pressing his lips to the tip in a soft kiss, looking up at him and flicking his tongue through his slit.

“Fuck…” Shiro moaned, fingers curling in his hair and Lance gently swirled his tongue around him and Shiro gasped softly.

“Feel good…?” Lance asked in a soft tease, before taking the head of his cock into his mouth and Shiro moaned.

“S-So good, fuck, Lance.” He moaned, nodding as Lance sucked lightly, before pulling off and pressing wet opened mouthed kisses down his shaft.

“You know…” He said with a thoughtful hum. “I’m kind of surprised you didn’t go and find some big strong man to fuck you once you had the chance…”

“I don’t want some strong man to fuck me, I only want you to fuck me.” Shiro replied with a sharp gasp as Lance sucked one of his balls into his mouth.

“Oh?” Lance asked, releasing it with a pop and looking up at him, lips curling into a smirk as he raised his eyebrow. 

Shiro bit his lip and nodded and Lance hummed, jerking him off lazily with one hand, and carefully nudging his thighs apart with the other, and Shiro easily complied, spreading his legs for him.

“Would you like me to fuck you, Shiro?” He asked in a soft purr, teasingly tracing a finger around his rim and Shiro gave a soft whine, nodding.

“Please.” He moaned.

“Pass me the lube, then. Condom too.” Lance said, nodding towards the bedside table and Shiro opened the drawer, getting out the lube and a condom, handing them to Lance.

Lance uncapped the lube, spreading it onto his fingers and gently circling Shiro’s rim.

“Have you done this lately?” He asked softly and Shiro flushed.

“Not- not for a few months, at least.” He admitted and Lance hummed.

“Yeah? What’d you use; fingers, a toy?”

“Fingers.” Shiro breathed as Lance began to gently push a finger into him, pressing soft kisses down his shaft as he did so. “W-Why?”

“Cause…” Lance said softly. “I need to know how gentle I need to be prepping. And also I want to think about you fucking yourself open on your fingers, because that’s really fucking hot.” He admitted, lips curling into a smile.

“O-oh.” Shiro murmured back, gasping softly as Lance began to gently pull his finger back out before pushing it back into him. 

“Mmmmhm.” Lance hummed, taking the head of his cock back into his mouth, sucking lightly as he gently thrust his finger into him, adding a second when Shiro was ready and smiling around him at how Shiro gasped out a moan.

“Fuck…” He groaned softly. 

Lance had been carefully avoiding his prostate up until now, just gently stretching him, scissoring his fingers inside of him, loosening him for a third and gently easing it in.

Once Shiro was comfortably taking three, Lance began to curl his fingers a little, messily mouthing along his shaft as he searched for his prostate, Shiro’s hips bucking as he hit it, and he gasped out a moan, hips stuttering.

“There?” Lance asked in a soft tease, looking up at him as he rubbed his fingers over the spot.

“Yes, yes, yes, there.” Shiro moaned, nodding quickly, biting down on his lip to quieten himself. 

“You’re taking them so well, baby.” Lance murmured softly, pressing a kiss to his hip bone as he began to thrust his fingers again, aiming for his prostate with each thrust, jerking him off quickly with his other hand.

“F-feels so g-good, Lance.” Shiro moaned.

“Yeah? You think you can cum like this for me before I fuck you?” He asked and Shiro nodded.

“W-why…?”

“Because I like how you get when you’re oversensitive.”

“O-oh.” He moaned softly.

“So can you?”

“Mmmhm.” He moaned, keening softly as Lance pressed against it hard.

“Shhh, you gotta keep quiet, Shiro.” He murmured, not letting up, and Shiro threw a hand across his mouth, hips bucking as Lance fucked his fingers into him a little more roughly.

Shiro groaned loudly, head tipping back as Lance took his cock back into his mouth, sucking hard as he continued his movements, before pulling off and looking up at him, slowing his fingers.

“N-no…” Shiro whimpered. “D-don’t stop…”

“Then be quiet.” Lance replied. “The last thing we need is Ella waking up.”

Shiro gave a shaky nod, keeping his lips pressed firmly together, moaning softly as Lance sped back up, starting the rougher movements again, before sinking back down onto his cock, taking as much of it into his mouth as he comfortably could and bobbing his head.

Shiro was bucking his hips, and Lance had to make an effort to lift up as he did so, so that he wouldn’t choke, sinking down further each time, throat convulsing around him a little, but he kept going, hooking his fingers into Shiro’s prostate hard.

“Lance- Lance, Lance, Lance, gonna cum-“ Shiro whimpered, hips stuttering, throwing his hand back over his mouth as he moaned, spilling into Lance’s mouth and Lance did his best to swallow as much as he could, a little dripping down his chin as he pulled off of him, panting a little, working him with his fingers through his orgasm before slowing them to a stop.

Lance carefully pulled his fingers from him, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand and kneeling up, watching Shiro breathlessly panting on the bed.

“Okay?” He asked softly, gently stroking over his thigh.

Shiro nodded. “Want you, please, Lance. Fuck me.” 

Lance really didn’t need telling twice, pulling his pants down and getting his cock out of his underwear, giving a soft moan as he ran a hand over himself, before tearing open the condom and rolling it down over his cock.

He gently ran his hands over Shiro’s hips, lining up at his entrance and pushing carefully into him, moaning softly with Shiro, leaning over him as Shiro reached out and pressing their lips together.

Lance stayed still for a moment after he bottomed out, their foreheads pressed together, just gently panting against each other’s lips, before he gave an experimental grind of his hips and Shiro whimpered.

“Please…” He moaned and Lance carefully drew his cock out of him, pushing back in, groaning softly. 

He thrust into him gently at first, propped up on one arm, cupping Shiro’s face with his other, pressing kisses over his jaw as Shiro clutched at his back. 

“Lance…” Shiro whimpered softly as Lance began to pick up the pace a little, thighs shaking a little from the oversensitivity as he spread them further, one ankle hanging off of the edge of the bed, nails digging into Lance’s back.

“You feel incredible.” Lance groaned, rocking into him, pressing his forehead into the crook of Shiro’s neck.

“S-so do you, fuck…” Shiro gasped softly, back arching as Lance brushed against his prostate, groaning.

“Shhh.” Lance murmured.

“Missed this- fuck, fuck…” Shiro moaned, keening as Lance brushed it again and Lance brought a hand up to cover Shiro’s mouth.

“You sound so fucking good…” He moaned. “But you gotta be quiet, fuck…”

Shiro moaned behind his hand, nails raking over Lance’s back as he fucked into him a little harder, rutting his cock up against Lance’s stomach, gasping as it leaked over him.

Lance knew Shiro wouldn’t last long, he never did if he’d already cum, but Lance always loved the little gasps and whimpering noises he’d make, the way his thighs would shake, nails digging into his back, head tipping back in pleasure.

And Lance never lasted long either, not with how Shiro would clench around him, shaking and clinging to him, moaning and whining, practically milking his cum from him, so it was hardly a surprise that neither of them lasted long.

They both laid there panting, Lance still inside of Shiro, softening, and Shiro held Lance against him for a good few minutes before they both came down, breathing evening a little and Lance rolled off of him, pulling out and tying the condom, tossing it in the waste bin and then snuggling beside Shiro.

“We should shower before Ella wakes up.” Lance said softly, voice a little scratchy and Shiro nodded, resting his head on his chest, and Lance wrapped an arm around him.

“Stay here for a minute?” He asked softly, looking up at him and Lance gave him a soft smile, nodding.

“Of course,” he replied softly, kissing his forehead and holding him close.

Shiro smiled, snuggling against him, burying his face into his neck. Shiro always got like this after he bottomed, clingy and snuggly and wanting to stay in bed for as long as physically possible before cleaning up. 

Lance had almost forgotten how sweet it was, gently stroking patterns over his lower back as Shiro gave a soft contented sigh and he briefly wondered if there were specific things that he did after sex that Shiro thought were sweet.

He curbed that thought, closing his eyes instead, putting up with the mess of sweat and cum that they were for Shiro’s sake, keeping him snuggled against his chest.

They could shower later, it didn’t matter. They could just stay here a little longer. This was good, this was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lance ur so far in denial its not even funny
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated!!! <333
> 
>    
> [twitter?????](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know)


	3. Chapter 3

“Do I have to go to school today, papa?” Ella asked softly, climbing into bed next to him the following morning, curling up against his chest.

“I’m afraid so, beautiful. Just like me.” He said with a soft smile, kissing her head and wrapping an arm around her.

Ella made a small huffing noise, burying her face in his neck. “But I’m tiiiired.”

“Mm, I know, I’m tired too, Ells.” Lance hummed. “I can make you scrambled eggs for breakfast if you want, will that wake you up?”

Ella made a noise of deliberation. “Can I eat it in bed?”

Lance laughed. “I don’t think that’s how waking up works. What about a shower, that might wake you up.”

“I just had a bath last night.” She whined. “I don’t wanna.”

“Okay, tell you what. You get up and get ready for school and I’ll make scrambled eggs and then you can have a little bit of ice cream after, yeah?”

Ella perked up at that. “Really? You mean it?”

“I mean it.” Lance laughed. 

“Okay, ice cream is good.” Ella agreed.

“There’s a good girl.” Lance smiled as she sat up, rubbing her eye.

“Papa…?”

“Mm?”

“When’s daddy coming back?”

“I don’t know yet, baby, we haven’t set a date.”

Ella looked down. “Is it gonna be soon? Sometimes he comes over and then he doesn’t come back for a while and I miss him.”

Lance gave her a sad smile, gently stroking her head. “I know, baby. I miss him too. We can have him over for dinner this week if he’s not working too late, yeah? I’ll ask him.”

“What about today?”

“You know Auntie Katie and Uncle Hunk are coming over tonight. We haven’t seen them for ages.”

“We just saw them the other day for the plaaaaay.”

Lance smiled, shaking his head. “That wasn’t a proper visit now, was it? Uncle Hunk’s gonna cook dinner, you like it when he does, don’t you?”

Ella bit her lip and nodded. “Is he still gonna play aeroplanes with me if he’s making dinner?”

“I’m sure he will, sweetie, if you ask nicely. Auntie Katie will play princesses with you too, I’m sure.”

Ella gave a small gasp. “We didn’t play princesses with daddy yesterday!”

“You’re right, we didn’t. We’ll have to do it next time he comes over, yeah?”

Ella nodded. “Yeah… Are you sure he wants to?”

“Sweetheart, you know daddy would do anything to make you happy.”

Ella pouted. “Not true.”

“It is.”

“No. He moved out. That makes me sad all the time.”

Lance was quiet for a moment, forehead creasing into a frown. “You know that wasn’t because of you though, right?”

“No, it was because of you.” Ella countered and Lance recoiled a little, biting his lip.

Yeah. It was. 

“Go and get dressed for school, Ella.” He said, getting up out of the bed and going into his bathroom, turning on the tap and picking up his toothbrush, watching in the mirror as Ella left the room and he blew out a long breath.

If it had have been up to Lance, Shiro wouldn’t have moved out. Yes, maybe he was the one to suggest it but… that didn’t mean it was something he wanted. He didn’t want for him and Shiro to split up, but here they were. And it was equally both of their faults. 

He came out of the bathroom as he heard his phone ring, picking it up, looking at it for a moment as he saw Shiro’s name on the screen.

“Hello?” He said, answering it after a few moments.

“Hey, Lance.” Shiro’s voice came against his ear and Lance couldn’t help the soft smile on his face.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked, biting his lip and sitting down on the side of the bed.

“Yeah, yeah, I just wanted to uh… say good morning, I guess.”

Lance gave a gentle laugh at that. “Well, good morning.” 

Shiro laughed softly in response. “Yeah, good morning. Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, I did, thank you. Did you?”

“Yeah, okay.” Shiro said, though he didn’t sound convinced.

Lance was quiet for a moment. “Have you been having nightmares again?” He asked softly. 

The moment of silence was all answer that Lance needed.

“Takashi…”

“It’s fine.” He said softly and then he was quiet for another few moments. “I slept through my alarm, I just woke up. I just uh, wanted to hear your voice.”

“I’m sorry.” Lance said softly, biting his lip and frowning. 

“There’s not much I can do, it’s fine. I’m fine.”

“How long have you been having them?”

Shiro gave a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure that’s something you want me to answer.”

A year, then. Since he moved out. 

Lance sighed softly, running a hand over his face. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“What would the point have been? What would you have said?” 

He was right, Lance supposed. “Shiro… You know I care about you, no matter what, right?”

“Yeah.” He said softly. “I know. Same goes for you.”

“Well, if you want to come over for dinner one night this week, we can get a take out, or something.” He said, changing the subject. “Ella remembered that we never got you in that princess dress yesterday, and was very distressed about it. So.”

Shiro laughed. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’m off early on Wednesday if that sounds good.”

“Yeah, that’s good for us. I’ll let Ella know, she’ll be pleased.” Lance said, turning around as the door opened and Ella came in, all dressed and ready.

“Papa, you’re still in your pyjamas.” She said, folding her arms over her chest. “What happened to scrambled eggs?”

“Sorry, baby, I’ll be right there.” He said softly to her. “You wanna talk to Ella quickly?” He asked Shiro.

“Yes please.” He said and Lance could hear the smile in his voice.

“Okay, I’ll pass you over. Call me any time, okay? I mean that. Even if it’s the middle of the night.”

“Yeah.” Shiro said, voice small. “Thank you, Lance.”

Lance handed the phone to Ella. “It’s daddy. He’s coming on Wednesday to play princesses with you.”

“Daddy!” She squealed excitedly into the phone and Lance smiled softly, putting on some clothes and going into the kitchen to start on the scrambled eggs.

Ella came in pretty much just as they were done, giving Lance his phone back and hopping up onto a stool as Lance put the breakfast in front of her.

“How was daddy?” He asked with a smile as she dug into the food.

“Good!” Ella nodded with a smile, making an appreciative noise at the taste of the eggs. “Yummy, papa.”

“I’m glad.” Lance smiled, ruffling her hair and eating his own, getting a small bowl of ice cream for her once she was finished and watching with a smile as she happily devoured it.

He carried her out to the car, strapping her in and driving to school, and she skipped off to her classroom early this morning, kissing his cheek and then turning her own for a kiss before she left.

 

***

 

Hunk’s cooking was always a welcome break for Lance whenever he and Pidge came over. They were all sat around the table, enjoying the meal, and talking about Ella’s performance from the last time they had seen each other and how school was going, and work respectively for the adults.

“So, any other news for us, Ella?” Pidge asked as there was a lull in the conversation.

Ella hummed in thought and then nodded. “I saw papa and daddy kissing the other day.”

Lance nearly choked.

“You what?” He asked. “You couldn’t have.” How could she have? 

“Don’t lie, papa.” Ella said, shaking her head. “I came out to fill up my water and you and daddy were on the couch and you were sitting in his lap and you were kissing.”

Lance opened his mouth and then closed it again. Well thank fuck that was all she had seen, because they had really just gotten their dicks out right there without thinking about it.

“And in the morning. You didn’t see me when I came in, but when you were making pancakes you were kissing again.” 

Lance didn’t know what to say to that, it was the truth. He glanced between Pidge and Hunk who were looking incredulously at him.

“Is daddy gonna move back in, papa? He stayed over the other day, too. Is he gonna keep staying over?”

Lance bit his lip, giving a soft sigh. This was what he was afraid of.

“Sweetheart…” He said softly. “You remember why daddy doesn’t live with us anymore, don’t you?” 

Ella bit her lip and nodded. “Um, because you and daddy always shout at each other.”

“Yeah, because daddy and I always shout at each other. And that wasn’t a very happy time for us, was it, baby?”

Ella looked down, shaking her head. “No, papa. But you and daddy looked really happy yesterday, and you were holding hands in the park, I saw it! You and daddy love each other again, I _know_ you do.”

Lance sighed. “Sweetheart, daddy and I never stopped loving each other, okay? Daddy and I are always going to love each other very much. Always. But daddy and I got into a lot of arguments with each other when he lived with us, and daddy can’t move back in because that’ll happen again, and then we won’t be happy anymore.”

“But… but daddy stayed over again… and… and you were smiling and laughing and you were being happy and daddy was being happy. You weren’t shouting…”

“I know, baby. It wasn’t every day, you remember that, don’t you? Sometimes we’d all be happy. But you remember the last time daddy stayed over and then he had to go?”

“Yeah. He didn’t say goodbye.”

“I know. That’s because I was shouting at him. And I shouldn’t have, and I said sorry and we made up… But baby, daddy can’t move back in with us because nothing’s changed. Things would just go back to the way they were.”

“But… Why were you and daddy kissing?”

“Daddy and I shouldn’t have been kissing. And I never meant for you to see, baby girl. I’m sorry.”

Ella clenched her jaw, looking up at him through wet lashes. Lance felt his heart break inside his chest. She got down from her chair and walked down the hall to her bedroom.

“Lance McClain.” Pidge said accusingly. “Are you or are you not sleeping with your ex husband.”

Lance sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead as it creased. “I am. Was. It was only- twice- three times… Twice and a half.”

“What the hell does twice and a half mean?”

“It was only… proper sex twice. I guess that doesn’t make it much better.” He finished quietly, feeling ashamed of himself. Now look what he’d gone and done.

“And… you and Shiro… _aren’t_ getting back together?” Hunk asked carefully.

“No.” Lance said, biting his lip and shaking his head. “No, no. God, this is a mess now. Look, we were drunk and we had sex. The second time was a lapse in judgement and then...” He sighed. “I don’t know, okay? She wasn’t supposed to know.”

“Kissing while you were making pancakes? Really? Holding hands in the park?” Pidge asked

Lance’s chest felt heavy. Yesterday had been… really nice. Really, really nice.

“You know I still love him.” He muttered softly. “You _know_ I do.” 

“I know, buddy.” Hunk said softly.

“But… I can’t handle… being with him. I can’t handle trying to make it work because it doesn’t. Not anymore. I couldn’t… put Ella through her parents getting back together and splitting up again, because that’s what would happen. Nothing’s changed. I’ll probably always love him, yes, but- we can’t. I shouldn’t have slept with him. I didn’t… mean for Ella to find out.”

Pidge sighed. “Do you want me to go and talk to her?”

“I’d better.” Lance said softly. 

“Lance.” Hunk said softly, stopping him as he made to get up.

“Yeah?”

“I know this is hard.” He said. “And I know you still love him and he still loves you. But you’re only hurting yourself more by doing this. If you can’t get back together with him then you can’t sleep with him. Because it’s not just sex, you know that. And you were doing really good and if you fall back in love with him properly and you can’t be with him, then… It’s not gonna be good and you know that.”

Lance looked down, nodding. “Yeah. I know. It’s not gonna happen again.” 

He got up, going down the hall to Ella’s room, opening the door, finding her curled up between the legs of a big teddy bear that Shiro had bought for her last Christmas. 

“Hey, sweetheart.” He said softly and she looked up at him, bottom lip wobbling.

“I thought… I thought that…” She started.

“I know, angel, I know. I’m so sorry.” He said softly, sitting down on the floor next to her and pulling her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her.

“I miss daddy.” She mumbled, burying her face against his neck.

“I know, sweetheart. I miss daddy, too.” And he did, he missed him so much. And Lance had been over missing Shiro, he’d been fine. He’d been over it. Over Shiro, mostly. And now his chest just felt heavy.

Ella didn’t say anything else, just pressing herself against him as Lance held her, breathing shallow and he wasn’t sure how long they both sat there for, but Lance knew that eventually they had to both go back out there.

He stood up, resting Ella on his hip. “You wanna see if Uncle Hunk will play aeroplanes with you?”

Ella sniffed and nodded.

He walked back out, setting her down on Hunk’s lap as she reached out for him. 

“You okay?” Pidge asked softly, laying a hand on his shoulder and Lance nodded.

“Yeah.” He said with a soft sigh. “I’ve really messed up.”

“Yeah.” Pidge agreed softly. “But it’s gonna be okay, yeah?”

“Mmhm.” Lance agreed, nodding. “Yeah, it’ll be okay. I’ll be okay.”

“Are you gonna talk to him about it?”

“I think I’ll have to. It was… I don’t know, but I need to talk to him about it. It can’t happen anymore. No sex, no kissing or pancakes or hand holding or phone calls or… I don’t know. That’s not us anymore.”

Pidge gave him a sad smile. “I know it’s hard, I’m sorry. I just don’t want to see you hurting again.”

Lance gave a sad smile back. “I appreciate it.” He said softly.

 

***

 

Lance sighed as he settled down into bed, picking up his phone and dialling Shiro’s number.

“Lance.” Shiro said when he answered and Lance could hear the smile in his voice.

“Hey.” He said with another sigh, a small smile gracing his face despite himself. 

“You okay?”

“Stressed.” He said softly and Shiro made a noise of understanding. 

“Wanna talk about it?”

“You’re not busy, are you?” 

“No, I’m not.” Shiro said and Lance knew that was probably a lie. He was always still working on things once he got home.

“We can’t do this anymore.” He said softly. 

“Do what?” Shiro asked, and Lance knew that he knew.

“Ella knows. She saw us kissing. She thought you were moving back in.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. _Oh._ We can’t do this anymore. We shouldn’t have, to begin with. No more sex, no more kissing or… anything that’s not what it was. You coming over to see Ella.”

“Lance… I come over to see you too, you know that, right?”

Lance didn’t say anything.

“You’re my ex husband, Shiro, we can’t be friends with benefits.” He said at last.

“Let me take you on a date then.” Shiro said and Lance sighed, eyes closing.

“I don’t… think that’s such a good idea.”

“Okay.” Shiro said, sounding resigned. “Just… keep it in mind, okay? Please?”

“Yeah. Okay. I gotta go, I just wanted to let you know. Have a good night.”

“You too, Lance.”

Lance shut off the call, putting his phone down and letting out a long heavy sigh. He picked it up again a moment later, tapping out a text to him.

_You can still call me if you need me though, okay?_

Shiro didn’t reply immediately. Or later, for that matter. Or at all.

 

***

 

Lance wasn’t looking forward to Shiro coming over for dinner like he had been the previous few times he’d been over. Shiro hadn’t replied to his text, and he hadn’t called him and honestly, that was probably for the best. He just hoped that Shiro wasn’t suffering too badly with the nightmares.

Shiro gave him a tight smile as Lance opened the door, only looking at him for a brief moment, before looking to Ella as she rushed over, a warm wide smile spreading over his face as he leant down, scooping her up into his arms and holding her close to him.

“Missed you, daddy.” She said softly, burying her face in his neck.

“I missed you too, Ells.” Shiro murmured back, kissing her head.

“Ella asked for pizza if that’s okay with you,” Lance said.

Shiro nodded. “Pizza’s fine.” 

“Cheese?”

“Cheese.”

Lance looked at him, biting his lip, and then went into the kitchen to phone the pizza place, ordering the pizza and some garlic bread. 

He stayed in the kitchen for a few moments. Things felt… tense, to say the least. Had he upset Shiro with that phone call? Had he… made things bad again?

After deciding he couldn’t stay in the kitchen for any longer, he went back out into the living room, Ella sitting on Shiro’s lap on the couch, animatedly talking about something. Shiro was looking at her with one of the softest smiles that Lance had seen.

“It’s ordered.” Lance said with a smile.

Shiro nodded, not looking away from Ella.

“Ella, sweetheart, do you wanna go and get your new red shoes to show daddy? They’re in your closet.”

Ella nodded, quickly getting off of Shiro’s lap and rushing down to her bedroom.

“Are we okay?” Lance asked, folding his arms over his chest, looking at Shiro apprehensively.

Shiro looked at Lance. “Why would we not be?”

“Because you’re… acting like…”

“Like what? Like I’m your ex husband? Like us sleeping together… meant something?”

Lance recoiled a little at that and he didn’t say anything for a moment, looking away from Shiro. Yeah, he probably deserved that one. 

“Right.” He said softly, not looking up at him.

“You said things had to go back to the way they were before. This is how they were before. Me coming over to see Ella and you and I barely exchanging sentences.”

“Yeah.” Lance said, biting his lip and nodding. This… This wasn’t what he wanted. 

“It was two days. Three times. A mistake. Get over it.” Shiro said and Lance nodded.

“Yep. Got it.” He said, leaving the room as Ella came back in, walking down to his bedroom, closing the door behind him, feeling tears prick his eyes.

This wasn’t what he wanted. Oh god, he’d made a mistake. He’d been fine, he’d been just fine and then he had to go and sleep with Shiro, he just had to go and fucking sleep with Shiro three fucking times and then… 

And then hurt.

He’d stopped hurting a long time ago and now he was hurting again and that wasn’t fair, he didn’t ask for that, he didn’t deserve that, and dear god he never should have slept with him. Never should have had him stay for pancakes, or stay later. At all.

Should never have been anything that it wasn’t because now things were back to how they were and Lance had had a reminder, just a taste. Just a little reminder of how it felt to be in love with Shiro, and to be loved back, and it hurt. Fuck, it _hurt_.

And that was why it was a mistake. Because he did nothing but hurt when Shiro and feelings were involved. Because yes, being in love with Shiro a few years ago had been the most wonderful thing. But… not anymore. 

All Lance did was hurt and hurt and hurt and he was done hurting. He was done with all of the insecurities and the self doubt and wondering why he wasn’t good enough, why he wasn’t important enough after so many years and a marriage, why he wasn’t put first, when Shiro always was.

He was done crying and shouting and hurting. He’d healed. He was fine now, things were done and that was fine, and so remembering what it was like to be in love with Shiro was the stupidest thing that Lance could have possibly ever done, and god, why had he done that?

He blew out a long breath, emerging from the bedroom as the doorbell went, but Shiro was already there collecting and paying, and taking it to the table, which Ella was already sat at, eagerly awaiting the food.

Lance sat down at the table, waiting as Shiro sliced the pizza and served it, thanking him quietly and waiting until he was finished before picking up a piece and taking a bite.

They both carefully kept their gazes trained on Ella as she happily babbled about things that Lance was regrettably not paying too much attention too and wow, he hadn’t actually felt so anxious in longer than he could remember. This was an unwelcome feeling. 

“Papa, are you gonna play princesses with us after dinner?” Ella asked expectantly and Lance took a moment to process the words.

“Uh…”

“Please, papa.” Ella said, pouting.

“Okay, sweetheart.” He said softly. He couldn’t say no to her even if he tried.

“Yay!” She squealed happily. “Daddy’s gonna have the pink one, remember, and you’re gonna have the blue one, papa.”

Lance nodded. “That sounds good, baby. Which one are you going to wear?”

Ella hummed in thought. “Um… I think I’m gonna wear the purple one.”

“That’s your favourite one, isn’t it?”

Ella nodded. “Yeah, that one’s the prettiest!”

They all went into Ella’s bedroom after they finished the pizza, after Lance reminded a pouting Ella to wash her hands because of the grease. Ella excitedly got the dresses out of her closet, handing the pink adult-sized one to Shiro and the blue one to Lance, who slipped them quickly over their clothes, and Lance helped Ella into hers.

Ella then opened up her dressing up box, pulling out some tiaras and looking at them intently, before handing a gold one with rubies to Shiro, and and a silver one with sapphires to Lance, putting on a diamond one herself. 

Lance tried not to look at Shiro too much, because he looked disgustingly cute and that really wasn’t a path he wanted to go down right now… focusing on the game and Ella, and doing as she told him, proclaiming herself the head princess and ordering Shiro and Lance around, gathering up specific toys that needed saving from the evil witch in the kingdom.

She told them that next time if Keith was over, then he would have to be the evil witch, because he had the right hair for it. That made both Lance and Shiro snicker.

She said that Allura would get to be the queen and that Hunk would be the sword maker- the blacksmith, as Shiro told her. Shiro could keep being the pink princess but Lance had to be the knight in shining armour, saving him from the evil witch Keith, and Pidge would get to be the green princess instead.

Lance said that they should all play that game the next time everyone was together. He couldn’t remember the last time they were all together… maybe last Christmas. They’d all gotten together a lot less since Lance and Shiro’s split. Especially after last Christmas.

It had been a mere few months after the split and had featured a decent amount of both fighting and crying from both sides, and later, a drunk Shiro. That hadn’t been a fun evening and they’d both been forced into being on their best behaviour for the following day. They’d just about managed it.

Eventually, Ella got tired of playing princesses, settling down by her dollshouse and tugging Shiro down beside her, allowing Lance to escape with only a small pout, before losing herself in the new game.

Lance took off the dress and the tiara, putting them away before leaving the room, letting out a long breath, and going out into the kitchen.

He poured himself a glass of water, half wishing he’d picked up some wine, but after remembering what had happened the last time he’d done that… he was only half glad that he hadn’t. He really could have used a drink.

He went into the living room, curling up on the sofa and switching on the tv, not really paying attention to what was on. 

It was a little while before Ella and Shiro came out, and Ella clambered onto the couch, settling into Lance’s lap and Lance smiled softly, wrapping his arms around her.

“I’d better be off.” Shiro said softly.

“Are you sure, daddy?” Ella asked sadly.

Shiro nodded. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’ll see you soon though, okay? I’ll talk to you on the phone too, yeah?”

Ella nodded, giving a small smile at that. “Okay, daddy. I love you.” She said, reaching out for him.

Shiro wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead. “I love you, too.” He said with a soft smile, pulling back up and moving to the front door.

“Bye, daddy. Thank you for playing with me.”

Shiro smiled. “You don’t need to thank me, princess. I always have a lot of fun.” He said, giving her a small wave, before closing the door behind him.

“I miss daddy already.” She said sadly and Lance gave a heavy sigh. 

This was a mess. This was far more of a mess than it had been for a very long time.

“Are you ready to go to bed, sweetheart?” Lance asked softly.

“Uh… I guess so.” Ella said with a shrug.

“Okay.” He said, flipping the tv off and picking her up, taking her down to the bathroom and waiting with her while she brushed her teeth and hair and changed into her pyjamas, getting into bed.

Ella waited while Lance picked a story, and then spent the next few minutes reading it to her, waiting until it seemed as though she was asleep enough, putting it down and kissing her forehead, pulling the door to behind him and padding back out to the kitchen.

He rooted around in the cupboard for a moment, finding an old bottle of whisky that Hunk had brought over a while back and pouring himself a little of that, downing it and putting it away, going down to his room to run a bath.

He sank into it once it was full, surrounded with bubbles and gave a soft sigh, closing his eyes.

Fuck. 

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed in there for, but the water was cool and his skin was wrinkled once he got out and dried himself off, pulling a loose shirt over his head and getting into bed.

He switched his lamp off, rather than going for his phone or book. To say that Lance was stressed was… an understatement. He didn’t want things to be like this, but he’d fucked them up, and now it seemed like there wasn’t much he could do to fix them.

He must have drifted into a light sleep at some point because the next thing he was aware of was the fact that he was being woken up by something.

He opened his eyes with a frustrated groan as his phone started vibrating on the side next to him. He picked it up, looking at it blearily in the dark and seeing Shiro’s name on the screen.

He answered it, putting the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” He said softly.

Shiro didn’t say anything, but Lance could hear him breathing on the other end of the line. He pulled the phone away from his ear, putting it on speaker phone, looking at the screen.

“Shiro, it’s- four in the morning.” He murmured.

Shiro still didn’t say anything, but Lance could still hear his breathing, slightly quickened and shallow. Lance put the phone down next to him on the pillow, closing his eyes again.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly. 

Lance gave up saying anything after that. Shiro didn’t respond, and it was likely that he wouldn’t… 

Lance didn’t hang up the phone, just kept the line open, listening to Shiro’s breathing as it evened a little. 

Shiro must have had a nightmare again, and finally taken Lance up on that offer. He supposed that was it. Or maybe it was about today… Lance didn’t know. But he knew that listening to Shiro’s breathing was comforting, and he pulled the pillow from Shiro’s side- _the other side_ \- of the bed against his chest, holding it tight against him. He hoped that the sound of his breathing was comforting to Shiro, too. If he was even still listening.

He supposed he probably was, or he wouldn’t have called in the first place. 

“Goodnight.” Lance murmured quietly, snuggling down into the covers, but not touching the phone; he’d keep the line open for as long as Shiro wanted it open for.

“Goodnight.” Shiro murmured back around thirty seconds later, voice sounding thick and raw, like he’d been crying before he’d called, and Lance didn’t want to think about whether that was the product of a nightmare or not. 

He thought about it anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops here comes the angst 
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated!!!
> 
>  
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a small warning, parts of this may,,, be a bit upsetting (not for shance reasons) but bare with ;-;

It was probably (definitely, Lance counted) five days before Shiro called again. Only a few words; hi, can I talk to Ella? And that was that. He and Ella were on the phone a little while and he listened to Ella happily babbling away to him about things at school.

Lance really… didn’t know how to fix this, and by now, he suspected it was beyond fixing. This was for the best, anyway. 

Definitely for the best. 

Shiro was coming by on Wednesday after school again, and Lance was feeling anxious about it, but this time he picked Ella up and took her out and Lance wasn’t invited. 

And that was okay, that was normal, that was how they had always used to do things. Lance had only come too on occasion. So why did it still hurt?

Enough was enough. He ran himself a bath and poured himself a glass of wine, trying his best to relax himself before they got back. 

Shiro tucked Ella into bed once they were home, and he read her a bedtime story, and he threw Lance a smile and a goodbye on his way out.

And that was that. Just like before.

And that was fine, Lance was going to learn to be fine with that, he had to be.

And things _were_ fine. 

Another week passed, Shiro called again to talk to Ella, and they didn’t talk about him coming over again, and really, Lance was getting over it. 

Except then his mother called. 

It was Friday, after school, and Lance had just walked in the door with Ella, kicking his shoes off as he fumbled with his phone, answering it with a smile.

And thank god Ella had already gone down to her room to play.

“What’s wrong?” Lance asked, frowning at her tone, sitting down on the couch. 

He heard his mother give a soft sigh on the other end of the phone. “Lance… It’s Bas.”

Lance felt his heart drop. “What- what _about_ Bas?” Here it was, the phone call he’d been dreading ever since he’d moved away.

“Oh sweetheart…” She said softly and Lance could already feel tears pricking his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“What… what happened?” He asked, voice small.

“He went in his sleep last night. You know he was old, sweetheart.”

Lance couldn’t stop the tears from slipping down his face at that. 

“I-” He sniffed. “Thank you, mama.” He said softly, hanging up the phone before she could say anything else. He didn’t want to talk to her. 

He’d rescued that dog when he was nine, when he was just a small helpless puppy in the rain and he’d raised him practically himself. But he couldn’t take him with him when he’d gone to college, and he’d become more of a family dog by that point anyway that he’d stayed home in Cuba.

When was the last time he’d gone home? When was the last time he’d seen him?

He tapped out a quick text to Allura, eyes blurred and probably hitting the keys in the wrong places, asking her to come and get Ella for the night.

He was then dialling before he could even think about it.

“Lance?” Lance gave a soft sob at the sound of Shiro’s voice. “Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

“Y-yeah.” Lance said shakily. “Yeah… Listen- I- I know you work late today, but… if you- if you could come over after work I’d um- I’d really- yeah-” He said, voice shaking, thick with tears.

“Lance what’s going on?” Shiro asked softly.

“E-everything’s fine.” Lance said, but he knew Shiro wouldn’t buy it. “Look, it doesn’t matter. You’re working late, I’ll just get Hunk to come over.”

He hung up before Shiro could say anything else. Fuck, why had he done that? Idiot. Stupid, stupid idiot.

Lance took in a deep breath, running a hand over his face and drying his eyes. He stood up, going down to Ella’s room and opening the door.

“Hey, beautiful.” He said with a smile. “How would you feel about going to stay with Auntie Allura and Uncle Keith for the night, hm? A sleepover?”

Ella nodded enthusiastically. “I love sleepovers!”

“Okay, let’s pack a bag.” Lance said, getting an overnight bag out and packing it with her things, waiting with her in her room, forcing himself to keep himself put together at least until Allura had been and gone.

It didn’t take long for Allura to arrive and Lance said that he’d explain later, kissing Ella’s forehead and handing her over, along with her bag, and then they were gone.

Lance flopped down onto the sofa, pulling his phone out and pulling up a few of the last pictures of Bas he took, giving a watery smile at the sight of him and another soft sob. Fuck. 

He’d known he was old. He must have been… seventeen now. That was… generally considered the very very top age for smaller dogs… bigger dogs were usually significantly less than that, so really, Lance should have made the effort to go home. Should have gone to see him. He knew this day was coming he just… it had never felt like a real concept.

It wasn’t long before the doorbell rang, and Lance gave a small groan, putting his phone away and wiping his eyes, heaving himself up and going to the door, opening it.

“You’re… supposed to be at work.” Lance said, forehead creasing into a frown as Shiro came in the door, closing it behind him.

“I left.” Shiro said. “What happened?”

Lance felt more hot tears well in his eyes at that. Shiro… left early? For him? Even after everything?

“Um-” He started, voice breaking, and Shiro wrapped his arms around him. Lance crumpled into them. “Y-you remember, um- Bas? My dog?”

“Oh, Lance.” Shiro murmured, moving to sit down on the couch with him, Lance held tightly against his chest.

“Last night.” He said softly, sniffing, dampening Shiro’s shirt, but Shiro didn’t seem to mind, just gently stroking over the small of his back. 

“I’m so sorry.” Shiro said, resting his lips against the crown of Lance’s head. 

He wasn’t sure how long they sat there for while Lance cried. It was a while, it felt like a while, and Lance’s eyes ached by the time he’d stopped crying, just pressed against Shiro’s chest.

He gave a small sniff. “Did I um, ever tell you how we got him?” 

He felt Shiro’s lips curl into a smile against his head. “Tell me again.”

“It was a night it was storming, typically…” He said, huffing a small watery laugh. “And… I’d left something out in the garden… I don’t really remember what, but anyway, I went out there, and there he was… curled up under Mama’s basil plants. So I scooped him up, leaving whatever else was out there out there, bringing him inside and he was tiny… must have been no older than a few months… And we gave him a warm bath and I sat with him by the fire. Went out and got him a collar the next day. He always slept with me until I moved out.” 

He gave a soft sigh, giving another sniff and Shiro kept gently stroking his back.

“I know he couldn’t have been rescued by anyone better.” Shiro murmured softly.

“You… You think?” Lance asked through a sniffle, looking up at him with watery eyes.

“I _know_.” Shiro said gently. “I know you, Lance. And your family. And I know that you gave him the best life he could have hoped for.”

“I just…” Lance said softly, blowing out a shaky breath. “I’m… never going to see him again.”

Shiro didn’t say anything to that, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head. 

“And I don’t know what to do with that. I don’t know… how to feel. I’ve never not… There’s never… I don’t remember not having Bas. There’s never… been home without Bas. And now home exists, and Bas doesn’t. And I never got to say goodbye to him, I never knew… that the last time I saw him… would be the last.”

Shiro didn’t say anything to that, scooping Lance up as he stood up, carrying him down to his bedroom, setting him down on the bed.

“Let me run you a bath.” He said softly and Lance nodded.

Lance wiped his eyes as Shiro disappeared into the bathroom, emerging a little while later and holding a hand out for Lance. He took it, letting himself be lead into the bathroom, let Shiro undress him, and lift him into the bath.

“Will you get in with me?” He asked quietly, looking up at him. 

He watched as Shiro hesitated, and then nodded. He pulled his own clothes off, slipping into the bath behind Lance, wrapping his arms around his waist as Lance leant against Shiro’s back.

Neither of them said anything while they sat there, and Shiro made sure to get them out before Lance’s skin started to prune.

He helped him out, wrapping a towel around him and getting some pyjamas out for him, slipping something on himself which was a little small for him.

“Why did you call me?” Shiro asked in a soft murmur as he laid down on the bed, Lance curled against his chest.

Lance took a moment before he said anything. “You know why.” He said softly.

“I don’t.” Shiro said, and Lance believed him. 

Lance gave a soft sigh, looking up at him. “Because you make me feel safe. Because I remembered what it was like to be in love with you, and to have you love me back. And because it hurts too much to be away from you, to pretend that… that things can go back to the way they were, because they can’t. Because when I didn’t know what to do with myself, I’d already called you before I’d realised what I was doing. Because I just wanted to be wrapped up in your arms and I just forgot… about everything else, because you make me feel safe. And because I’m in love with you.”

“Lance…” Shiro said softly, a gentle smile on his face. 

“So now I’m going to ask you to kiss me, and take me on that stupid date tomorrow, because… I can’t keep doing this. And maybe it was a mistake, maybe it was something that should never have happened and we all got hurt, including Ella. But now we have to deal with it, and the fact is that I’m in love with you, and I miss you. And I want you. Even if... Even if things will get bad again. Even if nothing’s changed and… they’ll just go back to the way they were. You’re still… you’re still the love of my life and I… I need us to at least try one more time.”

Shiro smiled, gently cupping Lance’s face and kissing him softly. “I love you.” He murmured softly against his lips.

Lance smiled softly, pulling back and gently stroking his thumb over Shiro’s cheek. “So lets say boyfriends?” He asked softly and Shiro nodded, kissing him again.

“Boyfriends.”

“And we can’t tell Ella.” Lance said, pulling back again. “Not yet, at least. And no one else. None of our friends. Not yet.”

“Just us.” Shiro nodded.

“Just us.” Lance agreed, smiling softly. “Just until… we’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” He murmured.

“Not like that.” Lance said softly, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I’m sure, too. I mean… until we’re sure it’s going to work and it’s going to last, and that… it’s not going to just turn like it did last time.”

“Okay.” Shiro nodded in agreement. “We’ll make it work.” He said softly. “I’ll never let go of you again.”

Lance smiled softly. “You’d better not.”

“Never ever ever will.”

Lance smiled, pressing his forehead into the crook of Shiro’s neck, giving a soft contented sigh. 

“We should get some dinner.” Shiro said with a hum. 

“Mm… I’m not hungry.”

“I know, but you have to eat, sweetheart.”

Lance made a soft whining noise, shaking his head.

“We can get whatever you want.”

Lance gave a small sigh. “I want your mac and cheese but I don’t want you to get up.”

Shiro gave a soft laugh. “Well… why don’t you have a small nap?”

Lance shook his head quickly. “Wanna cuddle with you.” 

“I have to get up at some point…” Shiro said, smiling softly.

“Don’t.” Lance countered, holding onto him tighter. 

“Lance,” Shiro said, cupping his cheek and moving his head to look at him. 

Lance bit his lip, forehead creased. “I’m sorry.” Lance said softly. “I’m just… anxious, I guess.”

“About what, sweetheart?” Shiro asked, gently stroking his cheek.

“About you.” He said softly. “I haven’t… felt secure with you for… well, a good few months at least before we broke up, at least. And… I’m just… scared that if I don’t hold onto you tightly enough I’ll lose you again.”

“Lance.” Shiro said softly. “I promise you, you’re not going to lose me. And definitely not by letting me go and make dinner in the kitchen.”

Lance huffed a soft laugh. “Yeah, I guess.” 

“I feel the same way though, yeah? Like I’ve never been able to hold onto you enough, and that it would be so easy for you to just… slip through my fingers again.”

Lance nodded. “Let’s just stay here a little longer.” 

“Is Ella coming back tonight?” Shiro asked softly, gently stroking his fingers through Lance’s hair.

Lance shook his head. “She’s with Keith and Allura for the night. They’ll bring her back tomorrow afternoon or evening probably.”

Shiro nodded. “That’s good then.” 

Lance gave a soft laugh. “That’s not something I ever thought I’d hear you say.”

“Mm, I mean it’s good so I can focus on taking care of you.” He said with a soft smile.

Lance smiled, flushing, burying his head in Shiro’s chest. “I love you.” He mumbled.

“I love you, too.” Shiro smiled back, stroking over his back.

“Are we gonna be okay?” Lance asked softly.

Shiro hummed softly, kissing his head. “I will do everything I possibly can to make sure that we are.” 

Lance smiled, nodding. “Isn’t your boss gonna be mad at you that you left early?”

“I said it was a family emergency.”

“Family emergency, huh?” Lance asked with a soft laugh.

“Well, the love of my life was crying on the phone to me, refusing to tell me what was wrong, after saying that we shouldn’t talk to each other anymore. I was more than a little concerned.”

“I guess that works.” Lance said, shaking his head.

“It did. And I’m glad I came.”

Lance gave a soft sigh, nodding. “Yeah. Me too.”

Shiro held him tighter and Lance pressed his face into the crook of his neck. Shiro kissed the side of his head. “I’ve got you.” He said gently and Lance nodded.

“Always?” He murmured and Shiro nodded, kissing his head again.

“And forever.” 

Lance smiled softly, pressing a kiss to Shiro’s jaw. “Mm, I need to call my mom.” He said with a soft sigh. “I kind of hung up on her earlier.”

Shiro nodded. “Shall I go and make the food while you do that then?” 

“If you would.” Lance smiled softly.

“Of course.” Shiro smiled back, kissing his nose and disentangling himself from Lance and getting up, heading out of the room and into the kitchen.

Lance sighed, sitting up and picking up his phone, heart clenching at the thought of Bas, as he dialled his mother’s number.

“Hi, mama.” He said softly when she answered.

“Hi sweetheart.” She said gently. “How’re you doing?”

Lance made a non committal noise. “Okay.” He said softly. “I’ll be okay.” He blew out a breath. “Yeah. Sorry about earlier, I just… Yeah.”

“It’s okay.” She replied. “It was to be expected, baby. He had a good long life, and you were wonderful with him. Who knows what would have happened to him without you, sweetheart.”

Lance’s eyes welled up at that. “Y-yeah.” He said, swallowing thickly, trying to dry his eyes before the tears spilled over, but they did. “I just wish I’d been able to see him again. Say goodbye.”

“He knew how much you loved him.” 

Lance nodded, wiping his eyes. “Yeah… I know.” 

“I was going to send you elephant, if you wanted it.” She said and Lance gave a soft sob at that.

“Y-yeah. Thank- thank you.” 

Elephant was the first toy that Lance had ever bought for Bas, and he’d loved that thing. Dragged it around the house, through the garden in the mud, taken him to bed with him almost every night. He’d sit there and lick him in the evenings and then put him in Lance’s lap when he was nice and wet.

“Is Ella there with you?” She asked, changing the subject, which Lance was grateful for. He wasn’t sure how much more of that talk he could handle.

“N-no.” Lance said, wiping his eyes again. “No, she’s with Keith and Allura for the night. It’s just me and-”

“Just you and…?”

“Takashi.” He said softly, biting his lip.

“Oh?” She asked and he could visualize her raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, I um, called him. After you called. He came early from work.”

“Early from work.”

Lance gave a watery laugh. “Yeah… I know. We’re um.” He took in a breath. “We decided um, only about half an hour ago, really, but um, that we’re going to try and make things work.”

“Make things work as in…?”

“As in we’re getting back together. But we’re not telling anyone yet, and definitely not Ella. We um… we had kind of a thing… a few weeks ago.”

“A thing.” She said sceptically and Lance smiled, rolling his eyes.

“Sex, mama. We had sex a few times.” He said flatly. “Except it wasn’t just sex and I kind of realised that I’m still in love with him. And I cut it off for Ella’s sake because she found out and thought he was moving back in, and well… it kind of… really hurt. A lot. Trying to put things back to the way they were after that and… I love him and I want to be with him and…” He sighed. “I know there’s a very good chance that things will just go back to the way they were before and we’ll all get incredibly hurt again and it will be absolutely terrible. But… at the same time, I think it’s worth the risk. And we still have a lot to talk about, but I know we’re both going to try harder and compromise more… and… I just… I really love him, you know? I never… I never stopped loving him, I just stopped hurting from the break up and… I want to be with him. Even if it’s a small chance, at least it’s a chance, you know? I have to try.”

“I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.” She said softly and Lance could hear her smiling. “If that’s what you want then I know you two can make it work. I don’t know that I’ve ever met two people more in love than you and Takashi. That’s why I was so confused every time you’d call after you fought, and when you told me you were splitting up. I know you both can make it work, my love.”

“Thank you, mama.” Lance said softly. “I really love him.”

“I know you do.”

“And… I’m scared. I’m so scared, mama, I don’t know... I’m just really frightened that it won’t work out, and I’m being blinded by my feelings because I feel so overwhelmed. I thought I was over him… And I’m so scared of hurting Ella. More than anything, more than me getting hurt again… I just… I don’t know. I’m just insecure, I guess. Because of before, that I’m more in this than he is, or that… he was more over me than I was of him and that he’s not going to put in the effort. And I feel bad saying that, I do. But… you know how it was before, mama… and I know I have stupid insecurities and mostly they _are_ stupid, but I’m his husband, I just… I don’t want to feel like I’m not important, again. I want to believe him that we’re going to try harder, and he said he’s never going to let me go ever again and I want to believe that. So badly…”

“Lance, sweetheart.” She said softly, cutting him off. “You want my honest opinion?”

“Yes please.”

“I think that you’re getting too in your head about this, hm? You know you tend to do that, my love. I think that you need to talk to Takashi about this and about all of your worries and your insecurities, because otherwise he won’t know, and he won’t be able to help to alleviate them. Takashi isn’t stupid, okay? He knows just as well as you do why things fell apart last time. And I’m not going to pretend to know the ins and the outs, but you _both_ know what happened. You both know where you didn’t compromise and what hurt and what made you fight. And you both know that this time things need to be different so that they won’t go the same way. So you need to talk to him about this, so you can figure out how to move forward. How to compromise, and how to make things work with each other. Because you were together for so many years, my love. You need to talk about what went wrong and why, and how you’re not going to make those same mistakes again.”

Lance nodded, biting his lip as he listened to her. “You’re right, mama. Just like you always are.”

“I’ve lived a long life, my love.”

“I’ll talk to him.” He said softly. 

“That’s good. Keep me updated, okay?”

“I will.”

“Call me anytime, okay? I love you.”

“I know, mama. I love you, too.” He replied softly, ending the call and putting his phone down. He felt a lot better after talking to her, just like he always did. She somehow always knew just what to say.

He stood up, padding down the hall to the kitchen, leaning in the doorway as he watched Shiro dishing the food up onto plates.

“Hey there handsome.” He said with a soft smile and Shiro glanced up at him, a smile spreading onto his face. 

“Hey yourself. How was your mom?”

“Okay.” Lance said. “Made me cry and then made me feel better, so.” He said with a soft laugh.

“Well, I’m glad she made you feel better.” Shiro smiled softly. “You want to take this back to bed with us or we can eat like civilised adults?”

Lance hummed. “Compromise with the couch?”

“Sounds good to me.” Shiro said, wrapping an arm around Lance’s waist and kissing the side of his head.

“We should talk, too.” Lance said softly, leaning into him.

Shiro nodded. “I know. Is that definitely a right now thing…?” He asked, biting his lip. 

Lance sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I think it’s probably better if we get it out the way first. Otherwise I’ll just be anxious.”

Shiro nodded and picked up their plates, carrying them into the living room and sitting down on the couch, Lance joining him and leaning against his side.

“This smells really good.” He said with a smile, pressing a soft kiss to Shiro’s jaw. 

“I tried to do it just how you like.” Shiro said softly back, catching the corner of his lips with his own.

“Thank you.” Lance said, giving him a proper kiss. 

The two ate in a comfortable silence for a few minutes while Lance tried to gather his thoughts into some sort of coherent way, trying to figure out what to say. 

“My mom said that we need to figure out where things went wrong and how we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen again.” He said softly, putting his plate on the coffee table and curling into Shiro’s side, resting his head on his chest. 

“That sounds like a good plan.” Shiro nodded. “Do you, uh, want to start, or me to start, or?”

Lance bit his lip. “I think I need to start.” He said with a soft sigh and Shiro nodded, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head as he put his own plate down and wrapped an arm around Lance. 

“Okay.” He said softly, pressing another soft kiss there.

“So... “ Lance blew out a breath. “Okay, well I think we both know that work is a big thing… Because you work _a lot_. And yes, I realise I never handled that particularly well and I started a lot of the arguments. But… It was hard not having you around, and it made me feel like me and Ella- well, mostly me, weren’t as important to you as before. Or that… you liked staying at work longer because it meant you didn’t have to be at home. A lot of that came from my insecurities, I know, but that’s still how it made me feel and it wasn’t great. It was just sort of… I don’t know, I’m your _husband_ , and we were together a lot of years and then… I didn’t know if you were sick of me…? Or- what... Anyway, your turn.”

Shiro nodded, sighing softly and saying nothing for a moment. “I’m sorry.” He said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

Lance smiled softly at him, gently cupping his cheek. “The point of this isn’t apologising.”

“Okay, uh… I’m just gonna start right out and say that was not it, and I’m sorry I did that to you. And then no more apologies for the time being. Okay, so… I guess around that time things were kind of hard at work. You know I’d just got that big promotion, and… it was a lot more than I was used to. It was hard on me, but it was such a good position I wanted to prove that I could do it, that I was the right choice, and that it wasn’t a mistake. Plus, we needed the money. So that kind of… impacted on my mental state a bit, I guess, and so I had to work a lot harder to keep up, to keep on top of everything and keep my boss happy… And I know that was around the time we first started fighting like that. And that… was also not good for my mental state, so throwing myself into work was my way of coping, I guess… And maybe a little bit it was because I didn’t want to come home. But not like that…

“More like… I didn’t want to come home and see how I was hurting you because I didn’t know how to deal with it and I didn’t know how to make it stop and make things better, and then things would maybe be okay, but then you’d bring it up and I’d get defensive and you’d get defensive and then we’d start shouting, and… I didn’t know how to change the situation, because… We needed the money, and this is a really good position. And I couldn’t just… get demoted, or… My boss isn’t very… forgiving, like that. And if there’s one thing I’m good at it’s my job, so… there was no way he was going to accept that. And I couldn’t just… quit, because I’d spent so long working up to that, if I had to start all over again we were really going to feel the damage. A lot. So I didn’t know what to do, I just tried to… ignore it and carry on and hope it would go away. But it didn’t, obviously. And then eventually we broke up.”

Lance nodded, gently stroking his cheek and leaning up to gently kiss his at his lips. 

“We should have talked about this properly a long time ago.” He said softly, resting his head back on Shiro’s chest.

Shiro huffed a laugh. “Yeah, we should have.”

“Okay, so, at this point, that’s not a massive issue because you don’t live here, and also I’m kind of just more relieved to have you back than anything. But going forward… we need to figure that out, because if things… you know, then you should move back in.” 

Shiro smiled softly. “There’s nothing I’d love more.”

“So we need to figure out what we’re doing with that, because… I understand that, I do. I know I’m not exactly helping much finance wise being a primary school teacher, so, you know. But we’ll work it out, okay? If we have to struggle for a while then that’s what we have to do, because this is more important. Me and you are more important, right?” He asked, biting his lip.

“Oh, Lance.” Shiro said softly, tucking his hair behind his ear and cupping his face. “You and me are the most important thing, okay? This family- you, me and Ella. Nothing else. Nothing else could ever come close.”

Lance felt his eyes well up at that, burying his head back in Shiro’s chest.

“S-sorry, I’m just- feeling emotional today.” He said with a small sniff.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Shiro said softly, kissing his head. “I’m sorry I made you feel like that, I just didn’t know how to fix things.”

“We’ll work it out.” Lance said. “We’ll make it work.”

“I promise you we will.” Shiro replied. “I never want to hurt you, and I know I have, so much.”

Lance huffed a small watery laugh, looking up at him. “I’m sorry, too.” He said softly. “I’ve hurt you a lot, too.”

Shiro gave a small smile, gently pressing their lips together. “We’re going to be okay.”

“You promise?”

“I swear.” Shiro said

“I believe you.” Lance said with a small smile. 

“We should go to bed, hm?” Shiro said softly and Lance nodded. He scooped him up, carrying him down the hall and put him carefully down on the bed, getting in next to him. “Do you think we’ve covered enough tonight?”

Lance nodded, brushing Shiro’s hair off of his face. “Yeah, I think so.” 

“Good, because I really just want to hold you and kiss you.” He said softly.

“Go on then.” Lance smiled, biting his lip as Shiro pulled him close, pressing a few gentle kisses to his lips.

“I missed you so much.” He said softly, tracing Lance’s jaw with his fingertips. 

Lance pressed their lips together a little more firmly, hand sliding around to rest at the nape of Shiro’s neck.

“I missed you too.” He murmured softly. 

Shiro kissed him back gently for a few moments, before pulling back to look at him, a soft smile on his lips.

“You’re so beautiful.”

Lance felt his cheeks heat a little. “You think?”

“Lance, you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen. And I mean that.”

Lance bit his lip, burying his face into Shiro’s neck. “You’re sweet.”

“I’m not being sweet, I’m telling you the truth.”

“I think you might be a little biased, because, you know, you love me.”

“Nu uh.” Shiro protested, shaking his head. “I remember the first time I ever saw you, and just thinking that you were a literal angel. So beautiful.”

Lance smiled softly, pulling back a little to look at him. “You remember the first time we met that well?”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah. I remember you were laughing. You were sitting with Hunk and you were laughing at something, and you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.”

Lance bit his lip as he smiled, leaning forward to rest their foreheads together. “I love you.” He murmured.

“And I love you.” Shiro murmured back.

Lance slept better that night than he had in a long time, completely emotionally exhausted, but warm and safe and loved, something he hadn’t felt in… longer than he could remember. And maybe they had more to cover, still. Maybe things wouldn’t be easy, but at least there was a chance now. At least they weren’t giving up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> w-whats this...? c-communication??? i dont know her. apparently shance just met her.
> 
> i am sorry for the sad ;-; i cried while writing it because we lost a family dog just before christmas, but i hope it was made up for...? with the soft...?
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated, each and every one of them make my day <3
> 
> i was gonna make yall wait for this another day or so while i got started on the next one but,,,, im a slut and this is soft and i want to scream with you about it
> 
>  
> 
> also dw we still have,,, a little way to go yet,, maybe like,,,, 3 more  
> [also twitter ?](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know)


	5. Chapter 5

Shiro was already awake when Lance woke up, and he didn’t know what time it was, only that the sun through the curtains was giving the room a nice gentle glow, and that Shiro’s body was curled around his, gently stroking over his skin as he held him close.

Lance hadn’t felt like this in a long time. He smiled, shifting a little as he snuggled closer to Shiro’s chest, keeping his eyes firmly closed.

“Morning, baby.” Shiro murmured, voice still rough with sleep. 

Lance made a non committal sound in return.

“I know you’re awake, darling.” He said with a soft laugh and Lance gave a soft whine. He didn’t want to be, not yet. “We don’t have to get up yet.”

Lance nodded against his chest and Shiro pressed a soft kiss to his head. 

“How’re you feeling?” Shiro asked softly, gently lacing his fingers through Lance’s hair.

“Tired.” Lance mumbled. 

“You can sleep some more, if you want to.”

“Not that kind.” He said with a soft sigh and Shiro nodded, holding him close.

“We don’t have to do anything today except cuddle in bed if that’s what you want, my love.”

“I love you.” Lance mumbled, pressing his face into Shiro’s neck and Shiro gently stroked over his back, fingers tracing over the skin under his shirt.

“And I love you.” He said softly back.

“Too many clothes.” Lance mumbled unhappily, tugging at Shiro’s shirt. 

Shiro gave a soft laugh, sitting up a little to pull his shirt up over his head, and then did Lance of his own. 

“Is that better, baby?” He asked with a soft smile and Lance nodded, settling back down against his chest, gently tracing patterns onto his skin with his fingertip.

“I like it when you call me baby.” He said quietly. “And everything else…”

“I can call you things all the time now, baby, yeah?” He asked and Lance nodded. 

“Yeah, cause ‘m yours.”

“I love you.” Shiro said softly with a smile, kissing Lance’s head. 

“I love you, too.” Lance smiled softly back, sitting up a little and clambering into Shiro’s lap, pressing their foreheads together and gently running his fingertips over Shiro’s chest. “Too many clothes…”

“Still?” Shiro asked, huffing a soft laugh and Lance whined, nodding.

“Just wanna be naked with you.”

“And you’ve got no… ulterior motives?” 

Lance pouted. “You have so little faith in me.” He said sadly, shaking his head. “But if I _did_... Would that be so bad?” He asked with a grin.

Shiro grinned back, humming, hands slipping down to cup Lance’s ass, pulling him closer. “I’m not sure in what universe that would be a bad thing.”

“Well, thank god for that.” Lance giggled, kissing him on the nose.

Shiro hummed softly, gently squeezing Lance’s ass. “So what do you want, baby?”

Lance made a soft contemplative noise, carefully rocking his hips, pushing his ass against Shiro’s hands and he gave another gentle squeeze.

“Just wanna like this.” Lance said softly, leaning forward to gently press his lips against Shiro’s. “Just wanna kiss you.” 

“We can certainly do that.” Shiro smiled softly against his lips, bringing one hand up to gently cup at the back of Lance’s head, stroking his fingers through his hair.

Lance smiled softly back, gently taking Shiro’s bottom lip between his teeth and lightly biting down, dragging it, before letting go and Shiro gave a soft groan.

Lance smiled, kissing him softly again, moving their lips together. “I love you.” He said softly.

“You’re saying that a lot today.” Shiro said with a soft smile, kissing at Lance’s lips a few more times.

“I haven’t been able to tell you in a year, I think I’m allowed.” Lance said with a soft laugh, gently nuzzling the side of Shiro’s face with his nose.

“You have no idea how much I missed you.” Shiro said, tenderly brushing Lance’s hair behind his ear and stroking his fingers over his cheek.

Lance looked down, smiling softly. “Right back at you.” 

Shiro bit his lip and gave a small sigh. “We should have had that talk last year.”

“Yeah, we should have.” Lance agreed softly. “But… it’s gonna be okay, right?”

Shiro gave him a small smile. “Yes, baby. It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay.”

Lance pressed his forehead into the curve of Shiro’s neck, giving a soft sigh, nodding. 

“Hey.” Shiro said softly, bringing his hand up to cup the back of his neck, gently stroking his hair. “I promise you. Things are going to be different, yeah? Good. They’re going to be good. Better than good. I promise.”

Lance gave a small sniff, nodding, pressing himself closer to Shiro. “I love you.” He murmured softly.

“I love you too, baby. I love you so much.” He said, kissing Lance’s head. “Never stopped, not for a minute, I just didn’t know how to make things better.”

Lance gave a small nod against him and a soft sigh.

“Hey, let me make you some breakfast.” Shiro said gently and Lance pulled back to look at him with a soft smile.

“Okay.” He said, gently brushing their noses together and kissing at his lips.

“Which means you have to let me up and out of this bed, darling.” Shiro laughed softly.

Lance pouted, but got out of Shiro’s lap, getting up and stretching. Shiro followed suit, grabbing up his shirt and making to pull it back on, but Lance grabbed it from him before he could, hurling it through the open bathroom door.

“No.” He said, lip curling into a smile and Shiro rolled his eyes, pulling him in by the waist and pressing a soft kiss to his lips, lacing their fingers together and leading him out and into the kitchen.

“So what would you like, beautiful?” Shiro asked and Lance hummed.

“I could go for your scrambled eggs.” He smiled and Shiro nodded, getting the pan out.

“So, it’s just after ten.” He said, glancing up at the clock on the wall as he began to make the eggs. “So I was thinking we could go out for lunch later and then order a take out for dinner? Did Keith say what time he’s dropping Ella back around?”

Lance shook his head. “No, I said I’d text this morning.” He said, running a hand over his face. “But that sounds really good. I can ask for… seven?”

Shiro nodded. “That sounds good, it’ll give us time.”

“Time for what?” Lance asked with a smile.

“Mm, I don’t know. Time to cuddle you for hours and hours?”

Lance smiled wider at that, looking down. “It’s weird… isn’t it?”

Shiro looked over at him, tilting his head. “What is?”

“You and me. Being all in love again. It’s like… it’s normal, but it’s… really, really not, too.”

Shiro smiled softly at him. “I know. It does feel… strange. But not in a bad way, right?”

Lance shook his head. “Definitely not in a bad way.”

“We’ll get used to it again. And things’ll be better.”

Lance nodded, looking down.

“Lance…” Shiro said softly, taking the eggs off of the heat and walking over to him. “Listen to me, baby.”

Lance bit his lip, looking up at him. 

“I _promise you_ , I will never let anything happen to us again. No matter what. And I will always do everything I can to make sure that you’re happy, and that I’m taking care of you, and that I’m good enough for you.”

Lance frowned, feeling tears prick in his eyes, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s neck. “Don’t say that.” He said softly. “You’re always good enough for me, you were always good enough for me.”

Shiro sighed softly, wrapping his arms around Lance’s waist. 

“Takashi.” Lance said, pulling back a little to look at him. “This wasn’t your fault, okay? It was both of our faults. And it wasn’t yours more than mine.”

Shiro bit his lip. “My work…”

“Was part of it.” Lance said firmly. “It was how we handled it. We. You and _me_. Please don’t tell you blame yourself.”

Shiro gave a small shrug, not looking at him.

“Takashi, sweetheart.” Lance said, moving his hands to gently cup Shiro’s face. “Hey, look at me. We need to figure this out, okay? We can’t… bring old things with us if we’re starting again, yeah?”

Shiro nodded. 

“I promise you, okay? It both of our faults equally. Mine. Yours. Both of us.”

Shiro looked at him for a moment and then nodded. “Okay.” 

“Okay?” 

“Yeah.” Shiro nodded again, pulling Lance flush against him and holding him tightly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry.” Lance said gently, pressing his lips to his cheek. 

Shiro blew out a long breath and let go of Lance, moving back over to the stove. “I hope these aren’t ruined.” He said softly.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Lance smiled softly, getting some plates out and Shiro dished them up.

“You want some… toast with that, or something?” 

Lance smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’ll get some tomatoes out.”

They ate, and then Lance laced their fingers together, pulling him down the hall and into the bedroom, one the bed before curling up next to him. 

“Mm, baby, what are you doing?”

“Cuddling you.” Lance replied, like it was obvious. 

Shiro gave a gentle laugh. “We have time, baby.”

Lance shrugged, wrapping his arm around him tighter. 

Shiro wrapped an arm around Lance in response, kissing his head. “We can stay here for a bit.”

Lance nodded. “Mm, then we gotta shower. Then… I don’t know.”

Shiro laughed lightly. “We don’t need a plan, my love.”

“I’m gonna suck your dick in the shower.”

“Actually, you know, that does sound like a good plan.” Shiro said and Lance gave a small laugh.

“Poor baby.” He cooed and Shiro grumbled. 

“Yes yes, just ‘cause you’re a slut.”

Lance gave a small gasp. “How dare you.” He said flatly and Shiro rolled his eyes, kissing Lance’s head again.

“I love you.” He said tenderly and Lance smiled softly.

“Yes yes, so you keep saying.” He teased and Shiro pouted. 

“I keep saying it for a reason, you know.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

“Mm, maybe the fact that it’s true.” He said. “And I need to make sure you know that.” He said, tone softening and Lance tilted his head up a little to press a soft kiss to Shiro’s jaw.

“I know, baby.” He said gently. “And I hope _you_ know, too.”

“I do.” 

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Lance nodded and then gave a small sigh, sitting up. “Come on, I’m done cuddling now.”

Shiro snorted. “That has got to be one of the quickest cuddle sessions we have ever had.”

“Yeah, I don’t know, I feel a bit restless. You should fuck my throat.”

“I should what?” Shiro asked, spluttering a little as Lance stood up and pulled him up with him.

“Do you need me to repeat that, or?” He asked, tilting his head.

“Uh, no.” Shiro flushed, pulling off his shirt once they got into the bathroom.

“Unless you don’t want to.” Lance said, biting his lip as he pulled his pyjama pants off and got into the shower, turning on the water.

“No, I um, I want to.” Shiro said, doing the same.

Lance looked at him for a long moment and then gave a small giggle. “I see.”

“You see what?”

“You’re nervous ‘cause you haven’t done it for a year.” 

Shiro huffed. “That’s not true.”

“If that’s not true then why are you pouting?”

“I’m not-” Shiro started, before rearranging his face into an annoyed expression. “I’m not- pouting.”

Lance rolled his eyes and gave a small laugh, getting the soap and lathering in his hands. “Okay, baby.”

Shiro huffed again, taking the soap from Lance when he was finished and washing himself. Lance hummed, shampooing and conditioning his hair before sinking to his knees in front of Shiro, watching with a small smirk as Shiro swallowed, looking down at him.

“Come on, I sucked you off the other day.” Lance said with a grin and Shiro glared at him.

“Shut up.”

“Shut me up.” Lance challenged, raising an eyebrow and Shiro narrowed his eyes, lacing a hand into Lance’s hair, and taking his cock in his other hand, guiding it to Lance’s lips, rubbing the head over them for a moment before Lance parted them, looking up at him and taking his hardening cock into his mouth with a soft moan.

“God, Lance…” Shiro breathed, biting his lip and Lance hummed around him, looking up at him with innocent eyes. 

Lance brought one hand up to gently cup Shiro’s balls as he pulled off of Shiro’s cock, wrapping his other hand around the base and flicking his tongue out through his slit and Shiro hissed, hand tightening in his hair.

Lance pressed a few soft kisses to his tip, before swirling his tongue around it and sinking back down onto it, taking as much as he could comfortably into his throat and then focusing on relaxing himself as he pushed down further.

“Fuck.” Shiro cursed, giving a soft moan, hips pushing forward and Lance moaned encouragingly in response.

“Come on baby, you _know_ I can take it.” Lance said softly as he pulled off, wetting his lip and then parting them, looking up at him, tongue half out of his mouth as he waited.

Shiro groaned, pushing forward and pushing his cock into his mouth, cupping the back of Lance’s head as he guided him over it, pulling him in until his nose was brushing his abdomen and he swallowed around him.

Lance looked up at him and Shiro began to thrust, carefully pushing into his mouth, cock hitting the back of Lance’s throat with each thrust and and Lance moaned softly, aching to reach between his legs and touch himself, but resisting.

Shiro moaned as he picked up the pace a little, fucking into his mouth a little faster, a little more roughly and Lance was whining and moaning around him with each thrust, tears pricking his eyes as his cock slid down his throat as Shiro pulled him over his cock, pushing his hips to meet him.

Lance knew his own cock was drooling over the shower floor by now, achingly hard as Shiro fucked into his mouth, slowly gaining more confidence and Lance moaned encouragingly when he gagged a little, because he _knew_ Shiro hadn’t forgotten how much he liked this.

“Lance, baby…” Shiro groaned as Lance choked a little, throat convulsing around him and he looked up at him with tear pricked eyes, giving a soft moan. “Baby, I’m close.”

Lance groaned, eyes fluttering closed as Shiro kept pushing his cock into his mouth, finally giving him the rough pace he wanted as he chased his orgasm, before finally groaning, pulling Lance’s face against his abdomen and holding it there as he came, spilling down his throat and not letting Lance move until he’d swallowed it all.

Finally he pulled Lance off of him and Lance gasped, spluttering a little and coughing and Shiro helped him up. 

“Baby…” Lance groaned raspily, pressing his face into Shiro’s neck and rutting his cock against Shiro.

“Shh, I’ve got you.” Shiro said softly, wrapping a hand firmly around Lance’s cock and quickly pumping it. 

“F-fuck…” Lance gasped, rocking his hips, pushing his cock into Shiro’s hand.

“Look at you, making such a mess.” Shiro murmured, spreading Lance’s precum down over his shaft as he worked him.

“T-Takashi- Takashi, please…” Lance whimpered, hips stuttering.

“You’re doing so good, baby, you took it so well for me.” Shiro praised softly and Lance gasped harshly as Shiro slid his thumb through his slit, feeling himself leak more over him.

“I’m close, I’m so close- please- baby-”

“Shh, it’s okay.” Shiro murmured. “You can do it, baby, be a good boy for me and cum, yeah?”

Lance groaned, gasping softly into Shiro’s shoulder as he came and Shiro worked him through it, before gently slowing his movements to a stop.

“I got you.” Shiro said softly, wrapping his arm firmly around Lance as he collapsed against him.

They stayed like that for a moment, before Lance took in a deep breath and pulled back, giving Shiro a soft smile.

“You ready to get out now?” He asked and Lance nodded.

“Yeah.” He said, voice still a little raspy. “Thank you.” He said softly, giving Shiro a kiss.

“For what, fucking your face?” Shiro asked with a laugh and Lance shrugged, giving a small giggle.

“You ready to get going?” Lance asked, going over and grabbing up his toothbrush, opening the cupboard and rooting around for a spare.

“Mmm, what d’you wanna get for lunch?” 

Lance hummed. “I don’t know, take me to a restaurant.”

“I was planning on it.” Shiro said, coming up behind him and pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

Lance smiled, turning around to gently kiss the corner of his lips, and then Shiro cupped his cheek, kissing him properly. 

“You’re sweet.” Lance said softly, turning back to the sink and turning on the tap.

“Hardly.” Shiro said, rolling his eyes and wetting his own toothbrush.

Shiro waited with a fond expression on his face as Lance cleansed his, throwing a cleansing wipe (at least) at him and Shiro reluctantly cleaned his face with it.

“Honestly, Takashi.” Lance said, rolling his eyes. “A whole year and you haven’t cleaned your face?”

“My face gets clean in the shower.” Shiro said with a small pout.

Lance wasn’t impressed. “Well, some things come with a price and being with me means you are taking care of yourself.”

Shiro smiled softly. “Yes, I know. I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

“Stop being romantic and go and put some clothes on.” Lance said, rolling his eyes. 

Shiro kissed his cheek and then disappeared into the bedroom. Lance finished up cleaning his face and then followed him in, getting out some clean clothes and putting them on.

“Ah, I still have this of yours.” Lance said, rooting around in one of his drawers and pulling out one of Shiro’s old shirts.

Shiro raised an eyebrow.

“I haven’t worn it for… at least seven months.” Lance said with a shrug.

“Seven months?” Shiro asked, pulling it over his head and Lance huffed.

“Yes, seven months. Maybe six.”

Shiro tilted his head, a confused look on his face. “But you were always so…”

Lance raised both of his eyebrows. “Wow.” He scoffed. “Did you really…? Takashi. Tell me you didn’t think I wasn’t hurting.”

“Well… I knew you would be I just…”

“You just what?” Lance asked, frowning.

“I don’t know, you always seemed like… you didn’t care. You were… I don’t know, okay? You kicked _me_ out.”

“I did _not_ kick you out.” Lance snapped, folding his arms over his chest. “And I cried _every_ time you left for _months_.”

Shiro flinched a little, not looking at him. 

“Did you tell people I kicked you out?” 

Shiro didn’t say anything.

“Do you _think_ I kicked you out? You _left_.”

“No I didn’t!” Shiro said defensively, still not looking at him.

“Shiro, I have never been worse than those first months that you were gone.” Lance said quietly. “And you _know_ I’ve been bad. Look, I’m not gonna pretend to know what it was like for you. But I have never…” He broke off, sighing and biting his lip. “How could you think that of me? _How_ could you think that after everything we’ve been through, after everything we had together that I would be okay?”

“I don’t know, Lance!” Shiro said, running a hand over his face. “I don’t know, okay? You seemed fine and it was easier to tell myself that you were fine and I wasn’t because you kicked me out and you didn’t want me anymore.”

Lance’s lips parted and he blinked at him for a few moments before he could even figure out how to articulate a response. “Don’t you dare.” He said quietly. “Don’t you _dare_ say that to me.”

Shiro clenched his jaw, making a point of still not looking at him.

“ _You_ left. _You_ didn’t want _me_. _You_ gave up and chose your work over me and Ella. _You_ agreed to moving out, because you would have rather that than stayed and tried.” Lance said, tears spilling down his cheeks before he had even realised they were there.

Shiro flinched visibly at that, breathing heavily. “What-” He said thickly. “What happened to it was _both of our faults_?”

Lance put his face into his hands, letting out a soft sob. Fuck. “I-I’m sorry.” He said shakily through tears.

It was a few long moments before he felt Shiro’s arms wrap around him, holding him close.

“I’m sorry.” Lance said softly, tears just keeping on coming no matter how he tried to keep them at bay.

“Shh, it’s okay.” Shiro said softly, own voice a little shaky.

“N-no…” Lance shook his head and Shiro gently stroked over his back. “I’m s-so sorry, that wasn’t fair, that wasn’t- I’m just- I’m so _scared_. I’m s-so scared that I’m not good enough for- for you and that- and that I’m not… because I wasn’t your most important thing and I should have been and I wasn’t and you left me and yes, I said you should move out but I never wanted you to, I just couldn’t keep… things like they were because it hurt so much because I knew it wasn’t me that you’d choose and I knew- I knew that- and- I wasn’t good enough and I’m so scared and I’m _sorry_.” 

“Lance, sweetheart.” Shiro said softly, holding him tightly against him. “I’m so sorry.” He said softly. “I am so sorry I made you feel like that. You are _always_ my most important thing. You always have been and you always will be. I didn’t know how to make things better and I thought you wanted me to leave. I was trying… to do the right thing for you, and I’m sorry.”

Lance pressed himself against Shiro, face buried in the crook of his neck and he nodded. “I- I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You’re always good enough, Lance.” Shiro said and Lance gave another small sob at that, unable to help himself. “I promise.”

They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Lance finally pulled back, blowing out a shaky breath and wiping his eyes with the corner of his sleeve.

“I’m sorry.” He said softly and Shiro gently cupped his face, brushing their noses together and then gently kissing his lips.

“It’s okay. I think we’re probably going to need to do that a few times more before it’s all out, yeah? We have to get it all out if we want to move on.”

Lance nodded, giving a small sniff.

“But we’re going to be okay.” Shiro said and Lance gave a small watery smile.

“Yeah, we’re going to be okay.” 

“Now let me take you out on a date, hm, beautiful?” Shiro said, gently stroking Lance’s cheek and Lance smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, let me call Allura about Ella and then we can go.”

Shiro nodded, kissing his forehead and getting up, going out of the bedroom and down to the living room.

Lance blew out a long breath, picking up his phone and dialling Allura.

“Lance?” She asked as she picked up.

“Hey, ‘Lura.” Lance said with a soft sigh.

“Have you been crying?” She asked and Lance grimaced, running a hand over his face. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Uh, yeah.” He said. “My uh, family dog, Bas.” He said, worrying his lip between his teeth. “He died. I’m sorry for asking you to take Ella, I just, I’ve been a bit of a mess.”

“Oh, Lance.” She said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah. If you’d be able to hold onto Ella until this evening I’d be really grateful. I’m about to go out now and pick up some lunch, get some air, you know? But uh, yeah.”

“Of course, don’t worry. You take all the time you need, we love having her here.”

“I know. Thank you.” Lance smiled. “Maybe like, seven? I’ll text you, but, that’s probably a good time so I can get her in bed.”

“Of course,” Allura said.

“Okay, well thank you again, you’re the best. Tell Keith I said thanks, too.”

“I will, we love you.”

“I love you, too. Tell Ella I love her, please.”

“Okay, we’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, bye.” Lance said, shutting off the call and sitting there for a moment longer, before getting up and going out to find Shiro.

“Are you ready to be romanced?” Shiro asked as Lance came in and Lance laughed softly; that was what he had asked Shiro on their first date.

“I don’t think you’d know how to romance someone if you tried.” Lance teased and Shiro pulled Lance in, quickly spinning him and dipping him.

“I don’t know, Lance. I’ve had years to learn from the best.” He said, kissing his lips quickly before pulling him back up.

Lance laughed, wrapping an arm around him. “You’ll never beat the master.”

“Master? I thought you were a connoisseur.”

“I am.” Lance said, huffing indignantly.

“Mm, okay, baby. I’ll trust you this time, but you’ll have to prove to me that you’ve still got it.”

Lance snorted. “Don’t worry, I’ll romance you _so_ good.”

“Oh I don’t doubt you will.” Shiro smiled, kissing his temple and taking him outside, opening his car door for him.

“Mm, a gentleman.” Lance hummed, getting in and buckling in, waiting for Shiro to get in.

“Well, a lady deserves to be treated as such.” Shiro grinned as he got in and started the engine.

“I’m no lady.” Lance snorted.

“Sorry, princess.” Shiro corrected and Lance spluttered.

“Shut up.” 

“Yes, milady.”

“You are about to find yourself minus a boyfriend very quickly, Takashi Shirogane.” 

“I thought you loved me.” Shiro pouted, pulling out of the drive.

“Mm.” Lance said noncommittally and Shiro gave a mock gasp. “Well, I suppose.”

“Oh he supposes.” Shiro rolled his eyes and Lance giggled.

“Well, considering all of the terrible things you put me through and yet, I’m still here, you could say that I do in fact, love you.”

Shiro glanced at him, giving him a soft smile. “And I am incredibly lucky for that.”

“Shut up.” Lance said back, a similar soft smile on his face.

“Fat chance.” Shiro replied and Lance laughed softly. “I’m going to keep reminding you of how lucky I am to have you until either the day you stop wanting me or the day I die, whichever comes first.”

“Don’t say that.” Lance said, frowning. “Don’t talk about either of those things.”

“I’m sorry.” Shiro said softly. 

“I’m never not going to want you, and I absolutely do not ever want to consider the thought of you dying.”

“I know, baby, that joke was in poor taste.” 

“Yes.”

“Anyway, how was Allura?” 

“She was good. Ella’s coming back at seven.” Lance said with a hum, rolling down the window a little.

“That’s good. Any idea what you want for dinner?”

“Mm, maybe chinese? I don’t know. Hard to think about dinner when we haven’t had lunch yet.”

“We’re about to, though.” Shiro said, pulling into a restaurant parking lot and parking up. “Is here okay?”

“Here is great.” Lance smiled, getting out as Shiro turned the engine off.

Lance laced their hands together as they walked up to the door, being shown to a table, sitting down opposite each other.

Shiro reached across the table, taking Lance’s hand in his own and bringing it to his lips. 

“I love you.” He said softly and Lance smiled.

“I know.” He said softly back. “I love you, too.”

Shiro bit his lip and nodded, and Lance gently stroked his thumb over Shiro’s hand.

“Hey, stop thinking about that.” He said softly.

“How do you know what I’m thinking about?”

“I’m your husband, I know.” Lance said, raising an eyebrow. “And please stop feeling bad. We’ve both made each other feel really shitty things, but that’s what comes with being together for seven years, and being married to someone, okay? You go through bad times and you make mistakes and you make the other person feel really shit. But we’re here now, and we’re trying, and we still love each other. So please stop feeling bad for things that happened a year ago, okay? Like you said, we need to move on from it.”

Shiro bit his lip and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Of course I am.” Lance smiled, picking up the menu and Shiro rolled his eyes affectionately.

“You know, I thought you were Mr. Right, but it turned out you were Mr. Always Right.” He said and Lance giggled.

“Where d’you see that one?”

“I don’t remember, but I was saving it.” Shiro said with a grin.

Lance laughed, shaking his head. “I think I’m going to have the penne, what about you?” 

Shiro hummed, scanning his eyes over it and they gave their orders to the waiter when he came by, and their food wasn’t too long after that. 

After they’d eaten they walked around outside for a little bit, talking about nothing in particular, hands swinging between them, before getting back in the car and taking a drive.

Lance sang along to the radio and Shiro sang the bits he knew, and he got flipped off by the car behind for not going when the light turned green because he was too distracted watching Lance.

Lance had giggled about that for a solid few minutes, teasing Shiro about how gay he was. Shiro promptly reminded Lance that of course he was gay for him, he had in fact married him.

They went home a little while later, putting on some movie on Netflix and cuddling on the couch, making out for a bit and Shiro fell asleep for a good forty minutes and so Lance put on a new movie, gently lacing his fingers through Shiro’s hair.

Lance ordered the take out a little while after that, only waking Shiro when the bell went and he had to get the food in.

They watched another movie with dinner, Lance’s head resting in the crook of Shiro’s neck, gently stroking patterns over his chest with his fingertips.

“It’s probably better if Ella doesn’t know you were here.” Lance said softly, glancing at the time. It was about quarter to seven.

“Mmm, you’re probably right.” Shiro nodded with a soft sigh. “I should go so I don’t pass them.”

“Yeah.” Lance said with a small frown.

“I’ll call you tomorrow though, yeah?” Shiro said, kissing his temple.

Lance nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.” He smiled, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

“Mmmm, okay.” Shiro said, stretching and getting up. “You need any help cleaning up?”

Lance shook his head. “It’s okay, I can handle it.”

Shiro nodded, wrapping his arms around Lance. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Lance said softly, giving a soft sigh against him. “You call me if you need me, okay?” 

“Yeah, okay.” Shiro nodded, biting his lip. “I will.”

“You’d better. Even if you just wanna fall back asleep on the phone like before. Call me.”

“Baby, I will.”

Lance bit his lip. “Okay.” He said softly, gently cupping Shiro’s face and pulling him in for a kiss. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, soon.” Shiro agreed, giving him another kiss.

“And I’ll wash your shirt.”

“Sweetheart, stop stalling. I gotta leave or I might bump into them.”

Lance pouted and Shiro kissed it right off of his face. 

“I’ll call you in the morning, and I’ll see you really soon, okay?”

“Okay.” Lance said, holding onto his hand as they walked to the front door, leaning up to kiss him again and then standing in the doorway to watch as he got into his car and drove off, giving a small wave and blowing him a kiss.

He shut the door behind him, picking up the plates and taking them into the kitchen, before throwing the empty boxes away. 

Allura got there not long after that, and Ella rushed into his arms, Lance scooping her up and holding her close.

“Hey, beautiful.” He said softly, kissing her head. “I missed you, how was your sleepover?”

“I missed you too, papa.” She said, resting her head in the crook of his neck and yawning. “It was good. I played lots with Uncle Keith and Auntie Allura.”

“That’s good. You look like you’re just about ready for bed, huh?” 

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight, papa?” She asked.

“Of course, baby. Go and brush your teeth.” He said, putting her down and she gave a small wave to Allura before rushing down the hall.

Allura smiled, waving back and then taking a few steps in, resting her arm on Lance’s shoulder.

“Are you okay?” She asked softly and Lance nodded.

“Yeah, I feel a lot better.” He said with a soft sigh. 

“That’s good, I know there’s nothing that makes that better when it’s so raw, I’m sorry, Lance.”

Lance smiled softly. “I know. I’ll be okay. Thank you again for having her.”

“Anytime you need.” Allura said, pulling him in for a hug.

“You’re the best.”

Allura smiled. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Lance nodded, bidding her farewell and then going down to his room, where Ella was already in her pyjamas and curled up in bed.

“Hi papa.” She said with a smile as she saw him come in.

“Hi beautiful.” Lance smiled, getting his pyjamas out of the drawer and changing into them, getting in beside her and wrapping an arm around her as she curled up against him. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. It was only a sleepover though, papa. I wasn’t gone long.”

“I know.” Lance smiled, brushing her hair gently off of her face. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She said sleepily, eyes falling closed.

“You have sweet and happy dreamies now, okay?” He said, kissing her forehead.

“Mmmhm. I will. And you, papa, okay? You have to have sweet and happy dreamies, too.”

“I will, baby.” Lance assured her gently, letting his own eyes closed and he gave a small contented sigh as she quickly fell asleep against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i ?? am so sorry its been so long ?? time really got away from me i struggled with the beginning of this i literally wrote the last 4k just now ;-; and ive been sick and at families houses and stuff
> 
> anyway, comments are greatly appreciated and i love you all  
> [twitter?](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know)  
>  
> 
> Also I would just like to add. I woke up at about 4am the other day and started writing this and the first sentence I wrote was “They eated and then Lance was carefully Shiro.” And I still don’t know what it was supposed to say.


	6. Chapter 6

Lance woke to his phone vibrating on his side, grabbing it up before the noise could wake Ella, who was still curled against him, and blearily looking at it, answering it.

“Mm, hello?” He asked, running a hand over his face and yawning.

“Baby, did I wake you?” Shiro asked, concern in his voice and Lance glanced at the clock on his side. It was just before ten.

“It’s Sunday.” He said in explanation, keeping his voice soft so not to wake Ella.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think. I thought Ella would have woken you up by now.”

“Mm, no, she’s still sleeping.” Lance said with a soft laugh, gently stroking her head. “What about you, did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, I did, actually.” Shiro said softly and Lance smiled.

“That’s good. I had Ella in bed last night, but we both fell asleep pretty quickly.”

“Well, I’m glad you both got a good nights sleep.” He said. “I miss you.” He added after a moment.

“I miss you too, baby.” Lance said in response, smiling softly. 

“I didn’t realise how _much_ I’d miss you, now I’m allowed to, again.”

“Well… You could always come over, if you’re not busy.” Lance said with a deliberating hum. “Ella’d be over the moon.”

“Yeah? I’d love to. Let me take you both out and do something.”

“Okay.” Lance smiled, biting his lip. “Do what?”

“I don’t know, are there any movies out that Ella would like to see? We could go and see a movie and get some food.”

“That sounds really nice. I’ll have a look on the website.”

“Mm, okay. So, I can come about twelve, if that’s good? Gives you both a chance to wake up.”

“Okay, baby, that sounds good.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Lance smiled, ending the call and giving a soft contented sigh. Things… really were going to be okay. He knew they were.

Ella shifted against him, brows pinching in her sleep and Lance gently stroked through her hair and she woke a few moments later, eyes staying closed as he face crinkled as she yawned.

“Morning, baby.” Lance said gently and she sleepily opened her eyes, blinking up at him.

“Hi, papa.” She said, a small smile working its way onto her face.

“How did you sleep, beautiful? Did you have sweet dreams?”

She thought for a moment and then nodded. “I did. I dreamt that Uncle Keith turned into a bunny rabbit.”

Lance laughed softly at that. “Oh yeah? I’m sure he’d make a great bunny rabbit. What did Auntie Allura do?”

“I think she just gave him a carrot. I don’t think she really noticed the difference.” Ella said with a shrug.

Lance snorted. “Make sure you remember to tell them next time they’re over here, okay?”

“Okay, papa.” She nodded, sitting up. “What are we doing today? Are we gonna have a fun day?”

Lance smiled. “We are absolutely going to have a fun day. Daddy’s coming over today and he’s going to take us to see a movie, would you like that?”

Ella made an excited happy noise, nodding quickly. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“Okay, he’s coming in a few hours so we can have breakfast and get dressed first, yes?”

Ella nodded, climbing out of bed. “I’m gonna get dressed so daddy can get here sooner.” She said, giving him a wave before leaving the room.

Lance laughed, shaking his head softly and laying there contentedly for a few more moments before getting up. 

He pulled on some clean clothes, and grabbing up the clothes that Shiro had left behind, putting them in the washing basket. He went out into the kitchen, getting the cereal out for Ella and making some toast for himself.

The time went by pretty quickly after they’d eaten, and Shiro was soon knocking on the door and Ella was running over to it, eagerly waiting for Lance to open it.

“Hey.” He said with a smile as he let Shiro in.

Shiro gave him a soft smile. “Hey.” He said, equally as softly, before scooping Ella up. “Hi princess.”

“Hi daddy.” Ella said, throwing her arms around his neck. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, beautiful girl.” Shiro smiled, putting her down. “You wanna go and get your coat from your room?” He asked and she nodded, running off to get it.

As soon as Ella was gone from their line of vision, Shiro was wrapping an arm around Lance and pressing their lips together.

Lance made a small surprised noise, before easily melting against him, laughing softly as they pulled away.

“Well hello there.” He said and Shiro grinned, kissing him again.

“I love you.” He said tenderly.

Lance smiled softly, rolling his eyes and pecking his lips again, moving back before Ella got back. “I love you, too.”

“Sorry, I just. I’m happy.”

“It’s okay, I’m glad. I’m happy too.”

“Did you find a movie?” He asked and Lance nodded. 

“Yeah, it’s something Ella picked out, so. I don’t have the highest of hopes, but still.”

Shiro laughed softly. “Ah well. A family date is a family date.”

“Is that what this is?” Lance asked, laughing.

“Dinner and a movie. Sounds like a date to me. I can take the two loves of my life out on a date, can’t I?”

“You absolutely can.” Lance smiled, leaning in to give him one more kiss, quickly pulling back as he heard Ella coming back down the hall, coat on and buttoned up.

“Well done, you ready?” Shiro asked.

“Yep!” She nodded enthusiastically. 

“Okay, come on then.” Shiro said, holding his hand out for her to take and she did, leading him outside to the car.

“I wanna go in daddy’s car.” She whined as Lance got his keys out.

Lance huffed a laugh. “Why is daddy’s car better than ours, hm? Let me get your seat out, at least.” He said, unlocking the car and getting out her car seat, putting it in the back of Shiro’s car and then helping Ella into it.

“Cause it’s cooler than ours.” Ella said, swinging her legs. 

“I see.” Lance laughed, getting into the passenger seat. “It’s because it was a gift from his company, probaby.” 

“Don’t be mean to my car.” Shiro pouted as he got in and started the engine. 

“Approximately zero percent of that was mean.”

“You’re just jealous of my cool car.” Shiro said smugly.

Lance scoffed. “As if. Blue is the best car and I wouldn’t trade her for the world.”

“It’s real name is Elizabeth, papa.”

“I think Blue suits her better.”

“But it isn’t blue.” Ella said, brows furrowing in confusion.

“Yes, well imagine how uncreative it would be if she was actually blue and we called her blue. Keep up, Ells. It’s a stylistic choice.”

“I think I’m winning this one, babe.” Shiro murmured and Lance shot him a glare.

“Yeah, and what’s your car called?”

Shiro glanced and him and then glanced away. “Charlemagne.” 

Lance choked on a laugh. “Excuse me, _what_? Your car is called _what_?”

“Yeah, yeah, our daughter thinks it’s cooler than yours, so I still win.”

“ _Charlemagne_?” 

Shiro sighed, a small blush colouring his cheeks. “He was my favourite to learn about in school, okay?”

“Honestly, I don’t recall ever learning about him, but okay. Must be because you were just so many generations ahead of me.”

Shiro snorted. “You wish. I’m like, four years older than you. That’s nothing.”

Lance shrugged with a grin. “Clearly it’s enough.”

“I swear to god, I will turn this car around and drop you back on the doorstep.” Shiro said warningly, though he was smiling.

“Just you try and see how much you’ll be getting later.”

Shiro quirked a brow. “Sounds promising. I wasn’t aware I was going to be getting anything.”

“Not if you don’t behave you won’t be.” Lance said, raising an eyebrow back at him.

“I promise I’ll be a good boy.” Shiro teased in a low tone and Lance rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what the problem children _always_ say.”

Shiro gave a gasp. “Problem children? Are you suggesting that I am a problem child?”

“Oh, absolutely. You’re the one that needs to go and sit in the naughty chair.”

“Ella, are you listening to this?” Shiro asked, looking in his mirror at her.

Ella shook her head sadly. “Sorry, daddy. Papa does know best.”

“What have you been poisoning our sweet child’s mind with, hm?”

Lance snorted. “You wish, Shirogane. Now get us to the cinema so you may be forced to be quiet for a little bit.”

“I can’t believe you’re using my own lines on me.” Shiro said sadly and Lance flashed him a grin.

“Miss me much?” Lance asked teasingly.

“More than you know.” Shiro said softly and Lance rolled his eyes, biting his lip.

“Shut up.”

“Papa said a bad word!” Ella called from the back and Lance gave a soft groan.

“I’m very sorry, it was an accident.” Lance said, while Shiro giggled, pulling into the parking lot.

“Oh, accident.” Shiro nodded.

“You’re a menace.” Lance said, rolling his eyes and getting out, helping Ella out of her seat.

“Miss me much?” Shiro teased and Lance scoffed.

“You wish.” He said, taking Ella’s hand and leading them into the cinema.

“And to think I’m taking you on a date and everything.” Shiro said sadly.

“Stop whining.” Lance said, leaning up to kiss Shiro’s cheek while Ella wasn’t looking. “I will _definitely_ make it up to you.” He murmured and Shiro flushed.

Shiro wet his lip, eyes flickering to Lance’s lips and then back to his eyes. “You wanna grab some snacks?” He asked, pulling a twenty out of his wallet and giving it to him.

“I can pay for snacks, Shiro.” Lance said, raising an eyebrow.

“And this is _my_ date.” Shiro said, curling his hand around it and giving him a gentle shove in the general direction of the snack section.

Lance lead Ella over, letting her pick up a few bags of different chocolate and then he got some popcorn and drinks, heading back over to Shiro where he had the tickets.

“Ready?” He asked, taking Ella’s other hand and they went through to the screen, finding their seats, Ella in the middle of them.

The movie wasn’t the best, being one that Ella had picked, and there were chattering children through most of it, but Shiro had put an arm around Ella’s shoulders, and Lance had laced their fingers together.

Ella seemed happy enough when they left the cinema, talking animatedly about the different parts of the film all the way to the restaurant, moving onto talking about school as they ate, and her dream about Uncle Keith turning into a rabbit, and the games that they all should play when they got home.

All in all, it was a really, really good day, and Lance hadn’t felt so carefree and contented in longer than he could remember. 

They went home after that and put Ella down for a nap, since she was feeling pretty tired from her energy rush earlier and Shiro and Lance curled up together on the couch.

“This is quite possibly the first time you haven’t jumped me the moment we’re alone.” Shiro said in a soft tease as Lance curled against his side, head resting on his chest.

He laughed softly. “There’s time to jump you later, baby. I just wanna cuddle for a bit, first.”

“Mm, I’ll cuddle with you for as long as you want, my love.” Shiro said, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head.

“I don’t suppose there’s any way you could stay tonight?” Lance asked, looking up at him.

Shiro frowned and took a moment to think about it. “Realistically, I don’t think so. I’d have to get up at like five to swing back by my place first to get my things and clothes and stuff. I’m sorry.”

Lance nodded. “It’s okay. You can start leaving some stuff here, if you want, for future.” He said.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“And then um, obviously, we can talk about um, you moving back in.” Lance said softly, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Baby, don’t worry.” Shiro said softly. “We’re taking this slow, yeah? We don’t need to talk about that for a little while yet.”

Lance nodded. “I just… worry, you know?”

“I know, beautiful.” Shiro said, leaning down to gently kiss him. “But it’s okay.”

“I love you.” Lance said softly, shifting a little so that he could sit up and kiss Shiro again. “And I _want_ you to move back in, just…”

“Baby, I promise you, I get it. I feel the same way, yeah? We have to spend some time figuring this out first.” 

Lance bit his lip and nodded. “Okay.” 

“Let me take you out an evening.” He said softly. “On a real date, just us.”

Lance smiled softly. “Yeah?”

Shiro nodded, gently kissing him. “Yeah. We could go and see a, uh, proper movie. If you want.”

“I want.” Lance said, nodding. 

“We could get a babysitter, and I’ll bring my things so I can stay over.”

“That sounds really nice.” Lance said softly.

“How’s your week looking?” He asked, gently tucking Lance’s hair behind his ear.

“Mm, pretty clear. I’ve just got some work stuff to do but I’m free whenever.”

“Wednesday?”

“Wednesday’s good.” Lance nodded.

“Wednesday it is, then. You pick the movie, okay? I’ll book everything.”

Lance smiled, biting his lip and nodding, resting his head back against Shiro’s chest.

“So, I know I said not yet, but… when _do_ you want to tell everyone?” Lance asked after a few moments.

Shiro hummed. “Well… I don’t know, really. I think you’re right that we need to wait, maybe a month or so? I’m not sure. Because on one hand I really like having you to myself and… we don’t need to offer any explanations to anyone or hear their opinions. But on the other hand, we can’t just tell Ella because she’ll accidentally tell them, and until we tell Ella we have to hide it from her, and pretty much the only alone time we have is when she’s asleep.”

Lance sighed, turning his face into Shiro’s chest.

“And there’s the fact that I can’t suddenly start coming over every few days.”

“I know…” Lance said softly. “Let’s say… a few weeks and then we can reevaluate?”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, a few weeks and then we’ll think about it again.”

“I like having you to myself, too.” Lance said softly, shifting so that he could sit in Shiro’s lap, looping his arms around his neck and resting their foreheads together. “I don’t want to know what anyone else has to say about it.”

Shiro gently cupped his cheek, brushing his thumb over his skin. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else has to say about it. We know that it’s the right decision, even if it might take a while to get to a consistently really good place… We _will_ get there.”

Lance nodded, gently pressing their lips together. “How do you know?” He asked softly as he pulled back, worrying his lip between his teeth. “I don’t think when we got married, we ever thought that we’d ever split up.”

Shiro gave a soft sad sigh. “I know, baby. I know because the last year was the worst year of my life, and you said it was yours, too. I know because every other year I’ve spent with you, that I’ve even had you in my life for, before we were dating, even, has been the best, and that I am absolutely nothing without you. Because I know what it’s like to live without you now, and I’d rather die than do it again.”

Lance buried his face into Shiro’s neck as his eyes filled with tears, giving a small shaky nod. “I love you.” He murmured.

“I love you too, baby. I love you more than anything.”

“I- I know.” Lance said softly. “Me too.”

“I wanna make love to you.” Shiro murmured and Lance pulled back to look at him, giving a soft laugh and wiping his eyes on the corner of his sleep.

“I would absolutely love for you to make love to me.” He said softly, gently stroking Shiro’s face. “But Ella’s going to be awake soon, she hasn’t been napping for long recently. So you’ll have to wait until she’s in bed for real, okay?”

Shiro smiled softly, nodding. “Mmmhm, okay, my love.”

“What do you want for dinner?”

Shiro blew out a breath. “I don’t know, we just had lunch.”

“Mmm, I know, but dinner time will come and I will have to make something. So what do you fancy?”

“I don’t know, can you do something with mash potato?”

Lance laughed. “You have exactly the same tastes as our four year old, Takashi.”

“I can’t help that you make the best mash, baby.”

“Well, lucky you we have potatoes, so I’ll see what I can do.”

“You’re the best.” 

“You’re a flatterer.” Lance said, raising an eyebrow.

“Is it flattery if it’s true?”

Lance made a non committal noise, leaning in to kiss him, gently dragging Shiro’s bottom lip between his teeth as he pulled back.

“What was that for?” Shiro asked.

“Well, if Ella’s waking up soon then I’d better kiss you while I still can.” He said by way of explanation and Shiro met him half way as he leant in for another kiss, one arm wrapped around his waist, other cupping the back of his head.

Lance made a soft sound against Shiro’s lips as Shiro lightly nipped, tongue darting out and Lance parted his lips, sliding his tongue over Shiro’s and giving a soft moan into his mouth, Shiro tightening his hold around him, pulling him flush against him, before leaving Lance’s lips and pressing wet open mouthed kisses down his neck.

Lance gasped softly, tipping his head back and eyes fluttering closed as Shiro latched onto the skin in the juncture of his neck, nibbling and sucking and Lance breathed a soft moan, hips rocking down against Shiro’s before he could think about it, whining softly as Shiro reciprocated the motion, rocking them up against his own sucking a little harder at his skin.

“Takashi…” Lance moaned, fingers lacing into his hair as he nipped a few more times, keeping a slow steady grind of their hips, before moving to a slightly different spot and giving it the same attention. “F-fuck…” Lance gasped.

He felt Shiro smile against his skin, giving a low hum in response and they both jumped as they heard the sound of a door opening, and Lance scrambled out of Shiro’s lap and onto the couch next to him as fast as he could, both breathing heavily and significantly turned on.

“That was a bad idea.” He said, breathless and flushed and Shiro turned to him, nodding.

“Now I _really_ want to make love to you.” He said with a small pout.

“Later, definitely.” Lance said, blowing out a long breath and running a hand through his hair as Ella rounded the corner into the living room.

“Hi.” She said, clambering up into an arm chair and looking at them.

“Hi baby.” Lance smiled. “Did you have a good sleep?”

She nodded and then frowned. “I wanted to have another dream about Uncle Keith the bunny, but I didn’t. I don’t remember what I dreamed about…”

“Well, you never know then, princess. If you forgot, you might have.” Shiro said.

“But I still didn’t get to remember.” She said with a sad sigh.

“It’s okay, baby. Do you wanna put something on the tv?” He asked and she nodded. “I’m making mash for dinner, is that good?”

She nodded excitedly. “Just mash?”

Lance snorted. “Ella, you can’t eat a plate full of mash potato, there’s no nutrition in that.”

She pouted and a glance to the side told him that Shiro was pouting too.

“You know, I don’t know how you’ve survived on your own for a year.” Lance said disappointedly and Shiro snorted.

“I know _how_ to take care of myself.” He reasoned.

“Mhm, you just don’t, is that it?”

“Maybe.” 

Lance rolled his eyes. “I didn’t realise I was getting the role of mother when I married you, but here we are.” He said with an affectionate smile, standing up and handing Shiro the tv remote. “I’ll go and make something fit for consumption, entertain our daughter, will you?”

Shiro patted the other side of the couch and Ella got down from where she was sitting, clambering onto the couch and snuggling against Shiro’s side as he flicked through the channels.

Lance headed into the kitchen, getting various bits out and setting about making dinner, calling them both a little over an hour later and settling down to eat.

“That’s not enough mash, papa.” Ella pouted and Lance huffed a laugh.

“Eat what you have and then we can see about more, hm? Your eyes are bigger than your tummy.”

Ella giggled. “My eyes aren’t big at all, papa! That makes no sense.”

“Yes, I know.” Lance said with an affectionate smile and a comfortable silence fell over them as they began to eat.

Ella only ended up being able to eat a tiny spoonful more of potato and Shiro ended up having a little more, too. 

“You feel like a bath tonight, sweetie?” Lance asked as he cleared the table, setting the plates into the dishwasher.

Ella hummed and then nodded. “Okay. Can daddy sit with me?”

“Daddy can.” Lance agreed. “You want to play with your mermaids?”

“Mhm! Their hair changes colour in the water, daddy!”

“That sounds very clever.” Shiro said, seeming interested.

“It’s super clever.” Ella nodded. 

“Why don’t you go and tidy up in your room while I run your bath, hm?”

Ella pouted. “Don’t like tidying.”

“I know, but if you make a mess you have to tidy it up, otherwise it just stays there forever. I think your toys are still out from a few days ago. Daddy’ll help you, won’t you, daddy?” 

Shiro nodded, reaching out to take Ella’s hand. “Come on, princess.” He said, leading her down the hall to her room and Lance finished putting the dishes away, before heading to the bathroom and running the bath.

While it was running Lance got Ella’s various toys out, mostly mermaids and rubber ducks along with a few others, putting them by the side of the bath and turning off the taps when it was full enough, getting out her shampoo and conditioner and body wash, setting those out, too. 

Once everything was ready, he left the bathroom, going down to Ella’s room and squinting suspiciously at the shrieks of laughter coming from inside. 

Shiro froze like a deer caught in headlights as Lance pushed the door open, and Ella was falling about laughing.

“What the _hell_ are you wearing?” Lance asked, looking at him.

“I, um, I can explain.” Shiro stumbled over himself, taking the tutu off from around his forehead.

“I thought you were _tidying up_.” Lance said, jaw falling open a little as he looked around the room. 

“I, um.”

“I’d like that explanation right about now.” Lance said, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms across his chest.

“W-well, uh, you see…”

“I asked daddy if he’d rather play dress up and so we played dress up.” Ella finished for him and Lance narrowed his eyes.

“You. Are a weak man.” He said, snatching the tutu from him and shoving it into Ella’s dressing up box and Shiro looked at least a little ashamed of himself. “Ella sweetheart, will you please go into the bathroom and brush your teeth? Do not get in the bath yet, okay?”

Ella nodded, giggling softly to herself as she went out and Shiro bit his lip.

“Am I in trouble?” He asked and Lance looked at him for a long few moments.

“Really, you should stay in here and tidy up while I go and do bathtime.” He said. “Except that would upset Ella so here we are.”

“I really didn’t mean for us to make such a mess.”

“It’s alright.” Lance said softly, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s middle and pressing a kiss to his jaw. “You can just make it up to me later, hm?”

“Uh, yes. I can do that.” Shiro said, clearing his throat and Lance laughed softly.

“Go and play mermaids then.” He said and Shiro caught his lips in a soft kiss, before heading out and into the bathroom. 

Lance spent the next few minutes gathering up all of Ella’s dressing up things that were now strewn across the floor, putting them back in the box, before gathering up all of her toys and other things that were on the floor and putting them away.

He ended up stripping and remaking the bed too, and then going out into the kitchen when her room was tidy, finishing clearing away from dinner and then settling on the couch.

It was only a few minutes before Shiro was carrying her out, all wrapped up in a towel and Lance got up, following them into her room.

“What do you say, princess?” Shiro asked as he got her pyjamas out of the drawer.

“Thank you, papa.” She said with a smile, drying herself off and putting her pyjamas on, clambering into bed.

“That’s okay, baby.” He said with a soft smile, kissing her head. “You want daddy to read to you?”

“I want you both to do the voices.” She said. “The one with the hedgehogs.”

Lance nodded, going over to the bookshelf and getting out the story that Ella wanted, sitting down on the bed next to Shiro and they both read to her, each voicing the different characters and Shiro slipped his hand into Lance’s under the book, between them.

Ella fell asleep pretty quickly after that and Lance tucked her in, kissing her forehead and turning off the lamp, fingers still laced with Shiro’s as he lead him out of the room, pushing the door closed behind them.

Shiro kissed him as soon as they were out, smiling against his lips and cupping his face, before leading him down to their bedroom and closing the door behind them.

“Let me get you out of these pesky clothes, hm?” He murmured and Lance huffed a small laugh, nodding and letting Shiro undress him, before doing the same.

“That better?” Lance asked when they were both naked, and Shiro hummed and nodded, sliding his hands down Lance’s sides, resting on his hips and moving back towards the bed, pulling Lance down on top of him as he laid down on it, moving the duvet to pull up around them.

“I wish I didn’t have to go.” He said softly, gently brushing Lance’s hair behind his ear, cupping his face and Lance closed the distance, pressing their lips together.

“Next time, my love.” He said softly against his lips, gently taking his bottom lip between his teeth and tugging.

“Mmm, next time.” Shiro agreed, fingertips tracing over Lance’s back.

“I kind of just want to lay here and kiss you for the rest of my life.” Lance murmured softly, brushing their noses together and Shiro smiled, kissing him again.

“Me too.” Shiro murmured back, tongue sliding over Lance’s bottom lip, Lance parting his own for him and sliding his tongue over Shiro’s, breathing a soft contented sigh into his mouth.

Lance hummed softly, pulling back and running his tongue over his bottom lip, stroking his fingers over Shiro’s face and brushing the front part of his hair off of his forehead.

“You’re so beautiful.” He said softly, watching as Shiro’s lips curled into a smile.

“That’s my line.” He said back, equally as softly.

“It can be both of our lines.” Lance said, biting his lip, but releasing it quickly as Shiro leaned in again, pressing a series of gentle kisses against his lips.

“You still wanting to do that making love thing?” Shiro asked with a small playful grin and Lance gave a long deliberating hum.

“Mmmm, I _suppose_ so.” He teased and Shiro rolled his eyes, nipping at Lance’s bottom lip.

“Oh you do, do you?”

“If I _must_.”

Shiro huffed a laugh, sliding his hands down to Lance’s ass and giving a small squeeze.

“Oh, must you?”

“Well…” Lance said, biting his lip, gently rolling his hips. “Maybe it’s something I could get behind…”

“Baby, I’ll have you begging before the night is out.” Shiro promised, carefully flipping them over so he was leaning over Lance and nudging his legs apart with his thigh, leaning over to open the bedside drawer and getting out the lube and a condom.

“Mm, I’d expect nothing less, my love, you always have me begging.” Lance said in a soft tease, letting his legs fall open for him, gently cupping the back of his head as Shiro kissed him again, slicking his fingers and sinking one into Lance.

“Maybe that’s just because you’re needy.” Shiro teased back against his lips as Lance breathed a soft moan.

“Or maybe you’re just good in bed.” Lance reasoned, grinning softly.

“Well, I’ll certainly take that explanation.” Shiro replied, gently thrusting into him, slipping in a second a few moments later, carefully and gently stretching him out.

“O-oh, I’m sure.” Lance moaned softly, breath hitching in a gasp as Shiro reached down to trace his fingers over the length of Lance’s cock, teasing him to hardness as he stretched him, carefully crooking his fingers and Lance bit down hard on his lip, a soft groan escaping him.

“Good, baby?” He asked softly, spreading his fingers inside of him and easing a third into him when he was ready and Lance gasped softly, nodding.

“Y-yeah.” He agreed, swallowing thickly. “R-really good.”

Shiro pressed wet open mouthed kisses down his throat and Lance easily tilted his head to the side for him, gasping as Shiro nipped and sucked at his skin, keening softly as he pressed into his prostate, wrapping his fingers around the base of his cock and jerking him off teasingly slowly.

“F-fuck, baby…” Lance moaned, eyes screwed tightly closed, back arching as Shiro rubbed over his prostate quickly. “P-please…”

“Mm, what was that?” He asked, going back to thrusting his fingers into him and sliding his thumb through his slit as he jerked him off, meeting each roll of Lance’s hips with his hand.

“Fuck me.” Lance panted. “Fuck me, baby, please.” 

Shiro hummed, slowing all of his movements a little.

“Now, baby.” He said, looking at him. “That’s not what you want, is it?”

“Takashi, _please_.” Lance gasped, chest heaving. “Make love to me, baby, please, I want you.”

Shiro kissed back up to his lips, swallowing his moan as he pulled his fingers from him and fumbled with the condom for a few moments, lining up and sinking into him, groaning into each other’s mouths, panting as Shiro slid in fully, staying like that without moving to let Lance adjust.

“Baby, baby, move.” Lance moaned breathlessly after a few moments, panting as Shiro grinded his hips against him, before carefully pulling his cock from him and sinking back in, sliding in easily.

“Lance,” Shiro moaned, pressing his lips in the crook of his neck to muffle himself, already sounding wrecked.

“Baby,” Lance gasped as Shiro thrust into him again, slow and deep, breathing heavily against his neck, pressing soft kisses as Lance clutched to his back, fingertips pressing into his skin. 

“God, you always feel _incredible_.” Shiro groaned softly and Lance whimpered.

“T-Takashi- _fuck_ , s-so do you, baby.”

“I love you.” Shiro murmured, nudging at his neck with his nose, settling his lips against the skin just under his ear in a soft kiss. “I’m so in love with you, Lance, missed you so much.”

Lance whimpered, gasping harshly as Shiro caught against his prostate, digging his fingertips into his back, eyes screwed closed.

“I love you, I love you, baby, I love you.” He breathed, voice shaking a little as Shiro shifted, keeping himself at that angle and hitting against it with each deep thrust, punching little gasps and mewls from Lance with each one.

“Wanna have you like this forever.” Shiro mumbled.

“Will. You will, baby.” Lance breathed back. “Promise.”

He felt Shiro nod against him, thrusting into him a little faster, each thrust firm and deep and making Lance’s legs numb as he wrapped them around Shiro’s waist, heels digging into his back as he pressed him deeper, pulling Shiro up to messily press their lips together, gasping and moaning into each other’s mouths, swallowing the sounds as they slid their tongues together.

“Baby, I’m not- _fuck_ \- gonna last…” Lance whimpered, back arching off of the bed a little, pressing himself into Shiro, drooling cock catching against his abdomen.

“Don’t last.” Shiro murmured, reaching between them to wrap his fingers around his shaft, spreading his precum down it and Lance whimpered desperately.

“I- I _mean it_ , I’m gonna cum-”

“Cum, baby.” Shiro murmured softly. “ _Please_ cum for me. Please, I love you, I want you to cum, angel.”

Lance’s lips parted in an almost silent moan, head thrown back as he came, thighs shaking, nails raking over Shiro’s back, panting hard as he coated Shiro’s hand as he worked him through it.

“Oh fuck, Lance, Lance, _Lance_ , baby.” Shiro moaned, absolutely wrecked as his hips stuttered, thrusting into him deeply and spilling into the condom, Lance guiding their lips back together as they moaned together.

“I love you, I love you, baby, I love you so much.” Lance murmured softly against his lips, breathless, chest heaving as Shiro carefully pulled out of him, collapsing next to him and tying off the condom, throwing it in the waste bin and letting out a long shaky breath, pulling Lance firmly against him.

“ _I love you_.” He said softly, tucking his face into Lance’s neck, arms wrapped tightly around him.

Lance wrapped an arm around Shiro in turn, giving a soft contented sigh and kissing his head.

“It’s okay, my love.” He said softly, gently stroking over Shiro’s back.

“I’m sorry.” Shiro murmured, voice a little shaky.

“What for, my angel?” 

“Ever hurting you.” Shiro mumbled, holding him impossibly tighter to him.

“Oh, my love.” Lance said softly. “You can’t possibly apologise for that. You can’t get through life without hurting people, sweetheart, and you’ve hurt me and I have hurt you and you will continue to hurt me and I will continue to hurt you. But we’re gonna be okay anyway. Because we love each other. And we’ll get through it no matter what, yeah?”

Shiro took in a sharp breath and gave a small nod, pulling up to kiss him.

“No matter what.” He said softly. 

“Oh, sweetheart.” Lance said softly, gently swiping his thumb under Shiro’s eye. “It’s okay.”

“I- I know, I’m sorry.” Shiro said, huffing a small laugh and biting his lip. “It’s just happening.”

Lance smiled softly, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips and then turning onto his back and then pulling Shiro to settle against his chest, wrapping his arm around him.

“Fuck it, I’ll get up at five.” Shiro mumbled, turning his face into his chest.

Lance gave a soft laugh. “Yeah?”

Shiro nodded. “I’m not leaving this bed for anything.” He said softly, pressing a soft kiss to Lance’s chest. “I’d miss you too much.”

“I’d miss you too much, too.” Lance said softly. “Let me set you an alarm.” He said, fumbling for his phone on the bedside table and setting it, putting it back down and kissing Shiro’s head. 

“M gonna fall asleep, are you comfy?” Shiro mumbled softly and Lance hummed, nodding.

“Yes baby, go to sleep. I love you.” Lance said softly.

I love _you_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theyre ?? so soft im crying
> 
> also who knows how many more chapters we have honestly, lets aim for 10 so,,,, 4 more ?? im not sure i havent refined plans enough but we'll see
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated !!!!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know)


	7. Chapter 7

Lance wasn’t really aware of Shiro leaving the next morning, just a hazy memory of lips pressed to his cheek and his warmth leaving the bed, rustling of clothes and then Lance was back fast asleep before he knew it. 

Lance sighed softly as he woke up, pulling Shiro’s pillow against his chest and burying his face into it, determined to have a few more minutes before his alarm went off. 

It went off anyway a few moments later and Lance gave a soft groan, reaching over to turn it off, running a hand over his face and huffing. He was tired. 

He sat up, covers falling down and he shivered, getting up and going into the bathroom, switching on the shower and getting under the water as it warmed up. That was better. 

Once he’d showered he went back into the bedroom, looking around in confusion before seeing a pile of his folded clothes on the chair, realising that Shiro must have picked them up this morning along with his own. 

He got some clean ones out of the drawer and put them on, jumping a little as his phone rang and moving over to sit on the edge of the bed and answering it with a soft smile.

“Morning.” He said, flopping down backwards onto the bed.

“Good morning.” Shiro said back and Lance smiled. “How’re you?”

“Mm. Tired. I just showered but I think I’m gonna need a coffee. What about you?”

Shiro gave a soft laugh. “I’m pretty awake now, but I tell you, getting up this morning was hard. It’s getting colder and you were very warm.”

Lance laughed, biting his lip. “Mm, tell me about it. I wish it was still the weekend.” He said, hauling himself up and padding out into the kitchen, boiling the kettle. 

“I know, me too. What are we doing with Ella on Wednesday, by the way?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll uh, sort something.” Lance said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll get a baby sitter.”

“Mm, okay. Hunk and Pidge couldn’t take her?”

Lance made a noise of deliberation. “I mean, maybe, but it’s the middle of the week so I’d probably rather just get a sitter.”

“Yeah, okay, that makes sense.”

Lance put Shiro on speaker, making himself a coffee and sitting down at the breakfast bar, taking a long sip. 

“Are you not supposed to be leaving soon?” He asked.

Shiro made a non committal noise. “Mm, yeah, I should probably get going.”

Lance laughed softly. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, baby.” Shiro said and Lance heard rustling on the other end of the phone.

“Have a good day at work.”

“You too. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.” Lance smiled, ending the call and setting about starting his and Ella’s breakfast.

It was only a few moments before Ella came into the kitchen, sleepily rubbing at her eye, dragging her bear after her.

“Papa, I don’t like my alarm clock.” She said with a small pout, climbing up onto a stool. “It’s angry.”

Lance laughed. “You need to get used to it, baby. It’s good to be independent. And it’ll help you with telling the time, hm?”

“But I don’t _know_ how to tell the time. Just that it yells at me in the morning.”

Lance shook his head. “If you really hate it, then we can see about getting a less angry one, okay?”

She nodded, making a grabby hand as Lance handed her a spoon for her cereal. Lance sat down next to her and they both ate in a comfortable silence, Ella hopping down when she was finished and going back to her room to get dressed.

Lance cleared away the plates and then went to get dressed himself, and soon enough they were both on their way to school, Lance dropping Ella off at her class before making his way to his own, just having enough time to set things out before children started arriving.

 

***

 

The days dragged up until Wednesday, but Lance kept busy enough, working on things after school for later in the week and taking Ella out for ice cream one evening. 

He’d arranged for a babysitter to come over, and they were currently in Ella’s room playing in her dollshouse while Lance waited for Shiro to arrive. He was sort of embarrassingly excited; he hadn’t been on a proper date for a long time, and probably nearly two years since Shiro had taken him on one.

It was only the cinema, but still, Lance was excited. The doorbell sounded and Lance went over to open the door, smiling as he saw Shiro.

“Hey there.” Shiro said with a smile, handing him a bouquet of flowers that had Lance’s cheeks turning pink.

“You didn’t need to get me flowers.” He said softly, taking them from him and leaning up to press a kiss to his lips.

“But you love flowers.” Shiro said and Lance kissed him again.

“Thank you.” He said softly, lacing their fingers together and leading him into the kitchen to get a vase out and put them in some water.

“You ready to go?” He asked, gently stroking his thumb over Lance’s hand. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

“My god, you’re such a gentleman.” Lance said with a soft laugh, looping his arms around Shiro’s neck and pressing a series of gentle kisses to his lips. 

“I’m only telling the truth.” Shiro reasoned, kissing him back.

Lance smiled softly, leading him out the front door and closing it behind them. 

“Did you pick a movie?” Shiro asked as they got into the car and he began driving him to the cinema.

“Mmmhm. Hopefully it’ll be a better experience than last time.” He said with a soft laugh.

“I’m sure it will be.” Shiro laughed back. “How’s your week been so far?”

“Mm, it’s been okay. Not much going on, you know. What about yours?”

“Busy. I had to do a ton of stuff last night so I could get tonight off.” He said with a hum.

“You deserve a break.” Lance said softly, lacing his fingers with Shiro’s hand and pressing his lips to the back of it, before letting him put it back on the wheel.

Shiro huffed a laugh. “You can try telling that to my boss, but I’m not sure what good it would do.”

“I’ll write him a strongly worded letter of complaint.”

“I’d appreciate it.” He replied and they both laughed softly. 

It didn’t take them long to get there, picking up the tickets and getting some popcorn before finding their seats, Shiro slipping his arm around Lance’s shoulders and Lance laced their fingers together.

The movie was better, but Lance didn’t miss an opportunity in the middle where there was more of a lull to make out with Shiro for a few minutes. 

They swung their hands together after they left, walking down the high street together, browsing mindlessly in a few of the shops before Shiro asked if Lance was hungry.

“Is it bad I kind of want McDonalds?” Lance asked with a grin and Shiro laughed.

“We can do McDonalds.” He said, kissing Lance’s cheek as they walked back towards the car.

“Drive through, though?” Lance asked. “Let me drive?”

Shiro looked at him for a moment before shrugging and nodding. “Sure. Unless that’s some ploy to try and pay.”

Lance snorted. “You’d have my head. Your date, I know, I know. That’s why I’m taking you ice skating.”

“You’re what?”

“We’re going ice skating.” Lance smiled, holding his hand out for the keys as they got back to the car.

Shiro handed them over, looking sceptical. “I see.”

Lance laughed, getting into the car and starting the engine. “Come on, we have been ice skating for like five years.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that.” Shiro said, raising and eyebrow.

“Come on, you weren’t _that_ bad.”

“Oh, I definitely was.”

“I’ll help you.”

“Lance, baby, you’re almost as bad as I am.”

Lance pursed his lips. “Well, we’ll just have to practice, won’t we? We’re going and that’s that.”

“Okay, okay.” Shiro said, raising his hands in surrender as Lance began to drive them to McDonalds.

“You haven’t changed your order, have you?” He asked as they pulled up.

Shiro shook his head and Lance gave their order, taking Shiro’s card from him to pay and then pulling up to the next window to get their food.

“Hold onto that, will you?” Lance said, handing him the bags of food and pulling out of the parking lot.

“You gonna tell me where we’re going?” He asked and Lance hummed, shaking his head.

“No, I don’t think so.” He said, flipping on the indicator and turning down a new road.

Shiro laughed softly. “Okay. You want to put the radio on?” He said, switching it on as Lance nodded. 

“Now, I really really hope you haven’t taken something specific out of your car that’s going to ruin my plan.” 

“Ah.” Shiro said in understanding, catching onto Lance’s plan. “No, it should still be in there.”

“Good, I don’t fancy sitting on December grass.” Lance said with a soft laugh.

“Mm, me neither.” Shiro agreed and they drove the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, the radio a low sound in the background.

Lance stopped the car, looking around and nodding. “This seems good.” He said, opening the door and getting out, going around to the trunk of the car and getting out a blanket that Shiro kept in there.

“Come on.” Lance said, setting the blanket down at the edge of the hill he’d parked on, giving them a nice view of the town, lights lighting up the darkness.

“This is pretty.” Shiro said softly, settling down next to him and putting the food down. 

“Yeah, it is. It’s not quite as good as where you took me for our first date…” He said, biting his lip.

“It’s perfect.” Shiro said softly, gently tipping Lance’s chin and kissing him. “Now let’s eat before our food gets any colder.”

Lance laughed softly and nodded, taking their things out of the bag and unwrapping them.

Lance got up once they’d finished, finding a bin to put the rubbish in, and then coming back to sit with Shiro, pushing him down so that he was laying down and then laying on his chest, looking up at the stars.

“Are you going for a full recreation?” Shiro asked softy, lacing his fingers through Lance’s hair.

“I remember lying like this and thinking about how badly I wanted to fall in love with you.” He said softly. 

Shiro pressed a kiss to his hair. “Yeah?”

Lance looked up at him, biting his lip. “Yeah.”

Shiro hooked a hand under Lance’s thigh, pulling his leg over his waist so that he was straddling him, pulling him in for a kiss.

Lance smiled against his lips, giving a soft contented hum as Shiro brushed his fingers through his hair, cupping the back of his head. 

Lance nipped at his bottom lip, smiling as Shiro gave a soft gasp into his mouth, other hand sliding down over Lance’s lower back. Lance gently took his lip between his teeth, dragging over it as Shiro breathed a soft moan, Lance giving one in return as he slipped his tongue into his mouth.

Shiro slipped his hand down to cup Lance’s ass, giving a light squeeze and smirking against Lance’s lips at the soft gasp he gave, before nudging his thigh between Lance’s legs, Lance rocking down instinctively against it, whimpering softly into Shiro’s mouth.

Shiro nipped at his lip, this time, gently sucking on his tongue and rocking his thigh against Lance’s crotch, pulling him down against it in a slow and steady grind, swallowing each of Lance’s needy little whines and mewls.

“Baby…” Lance gasped, pulling away from him with a soft moan.

“Mm?” Shiro asked, moving to kiss down his neck.

“We- car? I don’t- fancy getting arrested.” He said, panting softly as he humped against Shiro’s leg.

“Mm.” Shiro agreed, making no move to get up.

“Babe-” Lance breathed, biting his lip, forcing himself to get up, breathing heavily and offering a hand to Shiro.

Shiro reluctantly took it, picking up the blanket and putting it back in the trunk, slipping into the backseat and pulling Lance in after him, into his lap.

“We could still get arrested.” Shiro murmured, pressing wet open mouthed kisses along Lance’s neck as he tipped his head back, gasping softly.

“Less likely.” Lance moaned, quickly unbuttoning Shiro’s shirt and smoothing his hands down his chest. “It’d be your fault anyway.” He moaned softly.

“How?” Shiro asked, smiling against his skin, hands moving to unbutton Lance’s pants, pulling them down a little and palming him through his underwear.

“B-because… I just wanted to kiss you, fuck…” Lance moaned, biting his lip.

“Mm, ‘s not my fault you’re so irresistible.” Shiro murmured, pulling his cock out of his underwear and running his hand over it.

Lance moaned, biting his lip and fumbling with Shiro’s pants, quickly pulling his own cock out and taking it in hand.

“Fuck.” Shiro breathed, quickly pumping his hand over Lance’s, using his free hand to unbutton the first few buttons of Lance’s shirt, sucking at the juncture of his neck.

“Baby…” Lance whined, biting his lip and mimicking Shiro’s pace with his own hand, before Shiro batted his hand away, wrapping his hand around both of their lengths and pumping them quickly, panting against Lance’s neck.

“Lance…” He moaned softly, squeezing his hand around them and Lance gasped softly, head tipping back and Shiro bit into his skin gently, laving his tongue over the mark.

“Baby, please-” Lance gasped, tilting his head a little to the side further, running his hands over Shiro’s chest, stopping at his nipples to gently roll them between his fingers, pinching a little as Shiro whimpered against him, jerking them off faster.

“Fuck, _Lance_ …” Shiro groaned, sucking at his skin, working a deep mark into the skin as Lance played with his nipples, drawing needy little whines and whimpers as he tugged at the buds.

Lance wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline of being somewhere still semi-public that technically, someone could walk by and see them, but he knew that neither of them were going to last long, Shiro spreading their precum down their lengths as he worked them quickly, moaning desperately into his neck as he marked the skin, Lance’s head thrown back as he gave breathless gasps and moans.  
“Baby- Takashi- baby, I’m close-” He moaned and Shiro nodded, squeezing his hand around them and drawing a wrecked moan from Lance.

“It’s okay, me too.” He murmured against him. “Cum when you’re ready, baby.”

It was only a few more strokes of Shiro’s hand before Lance was spilling over them both, whimpering as Shiro worked him through it, still pumping them both quickly as he chased his own orgasm, Lance gasping harshly from the over stimulation.

“Lance- Lance- Lance-” Shiro gasped as he came, spilling over his hand, and blowing out a long shaky breath as he slowed his hand to a stop, both panting harshly, chests heaving.

“Didn’t get arrested, then.” Lance said, huffing a soft laugh, reaching for a packet of tissues in the seat pocket, opening one up and carefully cleaning them both up.

“Well, there’s always time.” Shiro said, buttoning his shirt back up and then Lance’s, tucking them both back into their pants and zipping them back up.

“I feel like a teenager.” Lance said softly, resting his head in the crook of Shiro’s neck as Shiro blew out a breath, wrapping his arms around him.

Shiro laughed softly. “I know. I don’t think we’ve ever had sex in the car before.” He said with a hum.

Lance thought for a moment. “I have definitely sucked your dick the car before. But that was many many years ago.”

Shiro laughed. “Oh, so you did. I’d forgotten about that.”

“Wow, rude. Was it that unmemorable of a blowjob?”

“Mm, I don’t know, maybe you’ll have to give me another one.”

Lance snorted. “One of these days I _will_. Don’t test me.”

“I would never. I mean it, I want a blowjob.”

“Of course you do.” Lance said, rolling his eyes. 

“Not right now, though.” 

“Mm, I figured.”

“Only thing about car sex is we can’t lay in bed and cuddle afterwards.” Shiro said with a small pout.

“You’re right, it’s significantly less fun now, and my legs hurt.”

“Your legs hurt? You’re sitting on mine.”

“Yeah, yeah, like I weigh anything to you.” Lance said, rolling his eyes.

“I mean, we could always go back to my place for a drink.” He suggested.

Lance hummed. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do that. It’s not too late yet, anyway.”

Shiro nodded, slipping Lance off of his lap and kissing his forehead and getting into the driver’s seat, waiting for Lance to get situated, before beginning to drive them back to his place.

Lance had only been to Shiro’s apartment a handful of times, and he’d never really been inside properly, declining the offer. He hadn’t really wanted to see it, in all honesty. He still didn’t know that he really wanted to, but he didn’t want to go home just yet, and it was all they had.

Shiro parked up and got out, slipping his hand into Lance’s and leading him up to his door, getting his keys out and letting them in.

“I think I have wine.” He said with a hum, taking his shoes off by the door, and Lance did the same, before following him into the kitchen. “Beer, maybe.”

“Wine’s good.” Lance said softly, looking around and leaning against the counter as Shiro got an unopened bottle off of his rack and got some glasses out of the cupboard.

“You wanna put a movie on, or something?” He asked, giving Lance his glass and taking his hand, leading him into the living room and pulling him against him on the couch.

“Mm, okay.” Lance said softly, taking a sip of his wine and nodding.

Shiro flicked through the channels, putting something on and kissing Lance’s head.

“This is just the part where he sit here and get slightly intoxicated before we end up making out and inevitably having more sex.” He murmured against his hair and Lance snorted.

“I knew there was a reason you wanted to come back here.” He said, raising an eyebrow.

“Because I wanted to spend more time with the love of my life?” Shiro asked with a grin.

“Mm, because you want him to suck your dick, probably.”

“Well, I was going to suck _yours_ , if you wanted.”

Lance hummed softly, taking another sip of his wine. “Well, I _suppose_.” He teased.

“Unless you definitely don’t want to.” Shiro said softly, Lance tilting his head as Shiro began pressing small kisses over his neck.

“I swear, Takashi, now you’ve remembered what it’s like to get laid regularly, it’s all you think about.” He said teasingly.

“Not true.” Shiro said, pouting softly.

“You think with your cock, baby.” Lance said, kissing his nose.

“How can you blame me? When my husband looks like you?” Shiro asked, whining.

“Mm, okay, I’ll give you that one.” Lance said, laughing softly. “Now, watch the movie like a good boy, and maybe I’ll allow you the privilege of sucking my dick.”

Shiro laughed softly, nuzzling him. “Okay, baby.”

Shiro got them both refills a little way into the film, absentmindedly kissing along the curve of Lance’s neck as they watched, his shirt already unbuttoned a little way, pressing soft kisses over the hickeys he’d made earlier and it was hard for Lance to keep focused on the movie.

“Mm, I need another glass, babe.” Lance murmured as Shiro began unbuttoning his shirt a little further, pushing him off with a teasing smile and handing him his glass.

Shiro rolled his eyes, taking it from him and heading into the kitchen, filling both Lance’s and his own before bringing them back, and Lance didn’t pause the film, knowing that Shiro wasn’t paying the best of attention to it.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Lance said, taking the glass from him and taking a sip. “You know, if I didn’t know better I’d say you were trying to get me drunk.”

“I think you’re trying to get yourself drunk.” Shiro said, raising an eyebrow and Lance laughed.

“Quite possibly.” He said with a soft giggle, curling his hand into the collar of Shiro’s shirt and pulling him against his lips.

Shiro made a soft noise, fingers tangling into Lance’s hair, parting his lips with his own and slipping his tongue into Lance’s mouth.

Lance gave a soft moan in response, sliding his tongue over Shiro’s and kissing him for a few more moments before pulling back, dragging his bottom lip between his teeth and then kissing him softly.

“If you’re a good boy then I’ll fuck you.” He murmured against Shiro’s lips, pressing a soft succession of kisses to them.

Shiro gave a soft whimper at that, nodding. “I can be good.” He said softly.

“Mm, I know you can, beautiful. So let’s finish the film, hm?”

Shiro nodded, taking a swig of his wine and pulling Lance into his lap, wrapping his arms around his middle and resting his lips against his shoulder, watching the movie over his shoulder.

“Good boy.” Lance murmured, stroking a hand over where Shiro’s was rested.

They watched a good portion of the movie before Shiro shifted, pressing a few more kisses to his neck, hand slipping down from his waist to his thigh, gently stroking over it.

Lance parted his legs a little, leaning back against him, eyes fluttering a little as Shiro nipped at his neck, hand moving to his inner thigh.

“Baby…” Lance murmured. “That’s not… being good.”

“Isn’t it?” Shiro asked, voice low, biting softly into his skin and Lance moaned softly.

“We haven’t finished the film.” Lance protested.

“Do you _really_ care about the movie?”

“Why’re you so horny today?” Lance asked with a soft laugh, letting Shiro unbutton his pants.

Shiro made a non committal noise, mouthing along his neck, palming Lance through his underwear.

“Mmm, okay, baby, I’ll tell you what.” Lance said with a hum, getting out of his lap and looking at him. “You let me finish the movie, because I have actually been paying attention, and I want to know what happens, and then I will fuck you.”

Shiro pouted. 

“You didn’t let me finish, don’t look at me like that. Get on the floor.” He said, gesturing to the floor in front of the sofa.

Shiro looked at him and then the floor and then back at him, carefully getting down onto his knees and looking up at Lance.

“There’s not long left, fifteen minutes or so.” Lance said softly. “Don’t make me cum.” He said, pulling his pants properly down and shuffling forward on the couch and looking at Shiro expectantly, who had brightened up considerably.

“Like… cockwarming?” He asked, tilting his head.

“I guess, yeah.” Lance said with a hum, gently curling his fingers into Shiro’s hair and guiding his cock to his lips, only just managing to draw his eyes away back up to the tv, giving a soft contented sigh at the warmth of Shiro’s mouth around his still soft cock.

Shiro gave a gentle moan around him, carefully coaxing Lance to hardness with his tongue, sucking softly and laving his tongue around the length, Lance giving a soft hiss as he flicked his tongue through his slit.

“Mm, baby.” Lance breathed softly, biting his lip and flicking his eyes down to Shiro, who was looking up at him and he gently stroked through his hair in a soft praise. “Just like that, baby, so good.”

Shiro gave a soft appreciative moan, gently bobbing his head and sucking.

“Just stay like that, sweetheart, not too much.” Lance said softly, biting his lip.

He tightened his grip in Shiro’s hair a little and loosening it as Shiro stopped his movements, just warming Lance’s cock with the wet heat of his mouth., carefully coaxing him back to hardness when he softened but not doing much more than that, keeping his gaze focused on him and it was really a struggle for Lance to keep his attention on the film, but he managed it, sighing in relief when it was over, flipping the tv off and looking down at Shiro, lovingly petting his hair, and easing him off of his cock.

“You did so good, baby.” He murmured softly and Shiro practically purred under his touch, leaning against his hand. “Come on, angel.” Lance said, helping him up and letting Shiro lead him to the bedroom.

Lance pulled the rest of his clothes off, before carefully taking Shiro’s off and pushing him down onto the bed, getting on with him and looking down at him.

“You’re so pretty, sweetheart.” Lance murmured softly, watching as Shiro bit his lip, flushing. “You okay?” He asked, gently stroking Shiro’s thighs.

“Mmmhm.” Shiro nodded. 

“I’ll have to have you warm my cock more often if it gets you like this, baby.” He said, lip quirking into a smile, only giving Shiro’s legs a small nudge before he was widely spreading them for him.

Shiro whined softly, looking up at him and giving a small nod.

“Did you like it?” He asked and Shiro nodded again. “Let me hear that pretty voice of yours, sweetheart, there’s no one else here.” He said softly.

“I liked it.” Shiro murmured. “A lot.”

“Mm, I can tell, it’s got you all pretty and submissive for me.” He murmured, smoothing his hands over Shiro’s thighs.

Shiro flushed, biting his lip and flicking his gaze away.

“Can you get on your hands and knees for me, sweetheart?” He asked and Shiro’s forehead pinched into a frown. “Only for a moment, my love. It’ll be easier for me.”

Shiro hesitated and then nodded, getting onto his hands and knees for Lance and Lance pressed a kiss to the small of his back, knowing that Shiro prefered to be face to face when he was in this sort of space.

“Let me take care of you, sweetheart.” Lance said gently. “Can I eat you out?” He asked, gently tracing his fingertip from his balls to his entrance and Shiro made a soft noise, nodding.

“Y-yeah. Please.” 

Lance started by pressing a soft kiss to his balls, smoothing his hands over his thighs as he opened his mouth, gently sucking and laving his tongue over them, getting a soft breathy whimper from Shiro.

Lance hummed softly, licking up his perineum to his hole and lapping over it. “The fact that this pretty ass hasn’t been eaten in over a year is an absolute crime.” 

Shiro whined softly, leaning on his forearms, pressing his face into the pillow as Lance laved his tongue over his rim, before delving into him, gripping Shiro’s thighs as he whimpered, rocking back against Lance’s face.

Lance reached around to wrap a hand around the base of Shiro’s cock, already drooling a little onto the sheets, and Lance figured he’d been hard since part way through the film. He moaned softly against him, teeth catching on his rim as he spread the beading precum down his shaft, Shiro giving a desperate whimper, trying to rut his cock into Lance’s hand.

Lance moved away from his hole back to his balls, carefully sucking one into his mouth and pressing the tip of his thumb into Shiro’s hole as Shiro gasped harshly, hips bucking.

Lance moaned softly around him, releasing his balls from his mouth to slick his fingers with his saliva, sinking one into Shiro, slipping his tongue back in next to it and sucking lightly at his rim.

“Fuck…” Shiro gasped, rolling his hips steadily.

Lance sped up his hand on his cock, thumbing at his head as he did so, rubbing through his slit and then slipping a second finger into him, carefully spreading them inside of him, lapping his tongue into him between them.

“ _Lance,_.” Shiro choked out, leaking over his hand, groaning into the pillow, pushing his ass back against Lance’s face, keening as Lance pressed his fingers into his prostate.

Lance huffed a small laugh against him at the stream of needy whimpers and whines spilling from Shiro’s lips, crying out with each teasing press to his prostate.

“Lance, Lance, _please_.” Shiro gasped and Lance wasn’t sure if Shiro even knew what he was begging for, except _more_.

Lance moaned softly, teeth catching on his rim again, before pulling his tongue from him, sliding a third finger into him and fucking him quickly with them, hooking them into his prostate with each thrust and Shiro gave a soft sob as Lance rubbed through the slit of his cock, leaking heavily onto his fingers.

“L-Lance, Lance, I’m gonna cum- Lance-” Shiro gasped, rocking his hips, stuck between rutting his cock into Lance’s hand and his ass back against his fingers.

“I’ve got you, darling. It’s okay, you can cum.” He soothed softly. “You’re so good, baby, taking it so well for me, you’re such a good boy.”

Shiro keened softly as he came, spilling over Lance’s hand and onto the bed sheets, letting out a soft sob into the pillow as Lance worked him through it, fucking his fingers hard into his prostate, Shiro’s thighs shaking hard with each touch.

Lance slowed his movements as Shiro came down from his high, carefully pulling his fingers from him and laying a hand on his lower back, carefully turning Shiro over and letting him pull him close.

“You okay, my love?” He asked softly, gently brushing a tear from Shiro’s cheek that had slipped out.

Shiro nodded. “Mmmhm. So good.”

“You okay to keep going, or you want a few minutes?” He asked gently.

“Just a minute.” Shiro said softly, wrapping himself around Lance.

“Okay, sweetheart.” Lance said with a soft hum, kissing his head.

They laid there for a few minutes, Lance gently stroking over Shiro’s skin before Shiro pressed a kiss to his collarbone, pulling away and leaning up to kiss his lips.

“Fuck me.” He murmured, and Lance gave a soft groan against his lips, rolling over so that Shiro was on his back and leaning over him.

“Lube?” He asked, and Shiro gestured to his bedside drawer and he leant over, opening it and getting it out. “You think you need more stretching?”

Shiro shook his head, looping his arms around Lance’s neck to keep him close. “Just want your cock.” 

“Condom?”

Shiro shook his head again. “Want you to cum in me.”

“I- fuck, okay.” Lance said through a soft moan, uncapping the lube and slicking his cock, resting his forehead against Shiro’s as he slowly sank into him, gripping his hips and they both moaned together.

“Fuck…” Shiro moaned weakly, spreading his legs further for Lance and Lance whined softly, pushing in the rest of the way and just staying there for a moment, enjoying the tight heat around his cock.

“God, you feel so good.” He moaned softly, gently stroking his thumbs over Shiro’s skin and Shiro whined softly.

“Move, please…” He murmured and Lance couldn’t say no, carefully drawing his cock out of him and pushing back in, pressing their lips together and swallowing Shiro’s moan.

Lance kept it slow at first, teasing thrusts, shallow and gentle, Shiro whimpering into his mouth, trying to rock his hips against him.

“Lance… please…” Shiro whined softly as Lance pressed kisses down his neck.

“Please what, angel?” He asked softly.

“Give it to me, please…”

“I am giving it to you.” Lance said teasingly and Shiro grumbled softly.

“ _Harder_ , Lance, c’mon…” 

Lance hummed deliberately, nipping at his neck and snapping his hips, smirking against his neck at the gasp that was punched out of Shiro, and the desperate whine that followed.

“Yes, yes, fuck, please…” Shiro moaned and Lance could do nothing but comply, fucking into him harder and deeper, sucking a mark into his neck, keeping his legs spread with his hands, groaning against him.

Shiro arched off of the bed as Lance hit against his prostate, cock brushing against Lance’s abdomen, drawing a desperate whimper from him, clutching at Lance’s back, nails digging into his skin, head thrown back against the pillow, lips parted as he moaned.

“God, you’re so fucking gorgeous.” Lance moaned softly, looking at him, fucking into him deeply and Shiro’s cheeks were already flushed, but Lance could have sworn he flushed more at that.

“Lance, Lance…” He moaned, unable to give some sort of coherent response to that with how Lance was snapping his hips against him, fucking into him hard.

“You sound so pretty, beautiful. Feel so good around my cock.”

“Oh- fuck-” Shiro gasped, eyes fluttering.

Lance moaned softly, shifting so he could hit his prostate again, watching as Shiro’s face screwed up in pleasure. 

“You’re so pretty, baby, you’re so beautiful, taking it so well for me.” Lance murmured and Shiro keened softly.

“Lance-” He gasped. “Lance, I’m close-”

“Cum for me, beautiful.” Lance said softly, grinding his cock into his prostate and reaching down to wrap his hand around Shiro’s, jerking him off quickly, biting his lip at the wrecked moan that Shiro gave, arching off of the bed, spilling over Lance’s hand, clenching around his cock.

“Fu- Fuck, fuck, fuck, _Lance_.” Shiro groaned as Lance fucked him through it, thrusting his cock into him quickly, groaning against him. “Please, please, please, I need it, please.”

“Oh shit- fuck, Takashi-” Lance moaned as he came, hips stuttering, grinding against him as he spilled into him.

Shiro moaned softly, panting hard as Lance slowed, wrapping his arms tightly around him and pulling him down flush against his chest.

“I love you.” He murmured breathlessly.

“I love _you_.” Lance replied softly, pressing gentle kisses to his skin, before carefully pulling out of him as Shiro whined softly. “We should shower.” He murmured.

“Mm, in a minute.” Shiro mumbled, holding Lance tighter. 

Lance hummed softly in response, pressing a few more kisses to his skin. They laid like that for a few minutes before Shiro sighed, rolling them over and sitting up.

“Come on, let’s clean up.” He said softly, standing up and making grabby hands at Lance.

Lance smiled softly, getting up and wrapping an arm around Shiro’s waist, kissing his cheek and leading him into the bathroom, letting Shiro switch on the shower and pull him under it.

“Let me clean you up?” Lance asked softly, gently running his hands over Shiro’s chest and he nodded.

Lance hummed, getting the soap and carefully lathering it over Shiro’s body, before washing it off, then carefully pushing his fingers into him to clean the cum out of him, pressing soft kisses along his collar bones as he did so.

When he was finished, Shiro picked up the soap and reciprocated, lathering it over Lance and washing it off, cleaning him gently.

Once they’d finished and dried off, Shiro let Lance root through his closet, picking out a nice loose sweater and pulling it over his head, cuffs falling past his wrist and hem falling to his mid thigh, not at all matching with his trousers, but he wore it anyway, snuggling into Shiro’s arms as he wrapped them around him.

“It’s late.” He said softly with a sigh. “I should go.”

Shiro made a small noise of discontentment, holding him tighter. “Don’t want you to.”

“That babysitter can’t stay forever, my love.” 

Shiro huffed softly, not protesting again.

“Let me call a taxi.” He said, shifting in Shiro’s arms to get his phone out of his pocket.

“Let me drive you.” Shiro said softly, burying his face against his neck.

“Mmm, hasn’t been long enough, angel.” Lance said softly. “Three glasses is too much.”

Shiro huffed softly again. “Okay.” He said softly, letting Lance order the taxi, being told that it would be there in around ten minutes.

“Come over on Saturday.” Lance said softly and Shiro nodded against him. “You could even come Friday after work, if you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Lance said with a soft smile. “Spend an extra night, and bring some spare clothes and things.”

Shiro nodded again, holding him tighter, before picking him up and carrying him into the living room, sitting Lance in his lap on the couch.

“I miss you.” Shiro said softly.

“I’m still here, baby.” Lance said back just as softly.

“I miss you when you’re gone.” 

“I know, sweetheart. I miss you too.” 

Shiro gave a soft sigh, pressing his forehead into the crook of Lance’s neck. “I- you still don’t feel real.” He said softly, curling his hands into Lance’s (his) sweater. “I missed you _so much_ , I don’t… you don’t… feel _real_. Like I’ve missed you for so long that it doesn’t make sense to have you again and that you love me.” He mumbled, trying to curl against him further.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Lance said softly, holding him tightly. “I know, I know.”

“I _miss you so much_. I hate… only seeing you once or twice a week… I hate not seeing you, I miss you. Now I’m allowed to miss you again, but it feels like I’m not, you’re not here and I miss you and it just feels like before, like you didn’t love me and you didn’t want me and I’m here by myself and you’re not here and I miss you.”

Lance sighed softly, pressing a kiss to his head, and deciding that not having Shiro drive was definitely a good idea. 

“Listen, baby, go and get your things for work tomorrow.” He said softly, gently guiding Shiro’s head from his neck so that he could look at him. 

“What?” 

“Go and get your things so you can come home with me and spend the night.”

Shiro sniffed softly, biting his lip. “You mean it?”

“Of course I mean it, I’m not about to leave you all emotional like this, sweetheart.”

Shiro gave a small nod and Lance slipped out of his lap, watching him leave the room, blowing out a long breath and running a hand through his hair.

He came back a few minutes later with a bag of things and Lance stood up, taking his hand and pressing a soft kiss to the back of it.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled softly.

“You don’t need to say sorry for having emotions, my love.” Lance said, rolling his eyes playfully, standing on his tip toes and kissing Shiro’s forehead.

“M still a little drunk.” He mumbled and Lance wrapped an arm around him.

“Baby, I promise it’s fine. You’re fine. I love you.” 

“I love you, too.” He said and then Lance’s phone buzzed, telling him that the taxi was there.

They both left the house, getting into the taxi and Lance laced their fingers together, pressing another kiss to his hand, and they all sat in the kind of tired silence that came at around midnight, and they were soon back at Lance’s house. 

Lance quietly unlocked the door, leading Shiro inside, greeting the babysitter who was sitting on the couch, watching tv quietly.

“How was she?” He asked, getting his wallet out to pay her.

“Oh, she was great. We played for a while and she ate all her dinner and went to bed nicely, too. She was really well behaved.”

“Oh, that’s great. Thank you so much. Sorry we were so late.” He said, giving her the money.

“It’s no problem.” She smiled, thanking him and picking up her things, bidding them farewell, and leaving.

“Come on, pretty baby, let’s go to bed.” Lance said softly, leading Shiro into the bedroom and taking off his clothes, getting into bed and watching with a soft smile as Shiro undressed and climbed into bed next to him, curling himself around Lance’s body and resting his head on his chest.

“Love you.” Shiro murmured softly, nuzzling his chest and pressing a soft kiss to the skin there.

“I love you too, my darling.” Lance said softly, kissing his head and wrapping an arm around him, gently tracing his fingertips over his side. 

Neither of them said anything after that, and they both quickly slipped into a comfortable sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shiro + alcohol + bottoming = emotions
> 
> i dont know why there is s o much sex in this chapter i dont know what happened, there's more plot coming i swear,,,,
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated! <3
> 
>  
> 
> ,,,,,,,sometimes i make funny tweets abt this fic ?? or,,,,,, i think they're funny so,,,,,,,,,, [go look at my twitter](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know) also i just want friends lmao pls be my friend


	8. Chapter 8

Lance was just dishing up dinner when Shiro arrived on Friday, putting the plate that he was holding down and going to the front door and opening it, smiling as Shiro came in, kissing his cheek.

“Hi sweetheart.” He said softly and Lance turned his cheek to catch his lips.

“How was work?” Lance asked softly as Shiro took off his coat, hanging it up. 

“Tiring.” Shiro said, blowing out a long breath and wrapping his arms around Lance’s waist, pulling him close. “But I knew I was coming home to you, so that made it better.”

Lance flushed, smiling and biting his lip. “You’re sweet.” He said softly. “Dinner’s almost ready, by the way, if you want to get into something more comfy.”

Shiro nodded, kissing Lance again and picking up his bag, heading for the bedroom. Lance went back into the kitchen, finishing putting the food on their plates and then carrying them to the table, going down the hall to Ella’s room, opening the door to find her curled up in a pile of her toys, looking at one of her books.

“Dinner’s ready, beautiful.” He said softly and she got up quickly, rushing past him and into the dining room.

Lance laughed softly, watching her go and went down to his room, pushing the door open and leaning in the doorway.

“You okay?” Shiro asked, turning around, shirt in hand.

“Mmm, thought I might catch you shirtless if I was lucky” He said with a grin. “I was.” He said, blowing him a kiss and heading back to the dining room.

“Is daddy gonna be here soon?” Ella asked, looking at Shiro’s empty chair and then to Lance.

“Daddy’s already here, princess.” Shiro said from the door, coming in and smiling as Ella got down off of her chair, rushing to him. 

He picked her up, kissing her nose and carrying her back to her seat, before sitting down in his own. 

“I didn’t hear you come in, daddy.”

“I thought I’d surprise you.” He said with a smile, resting his hand on Lance’s thigh under the table. “This looks lovely, by the way.” He said to Lance with a smile.

Lance smiled back, taking a sip of his drink. “One day I’ll teach you to cook.” 

“I’m not _that_ hopeless.” Shiro said with a small pout.

“Yes you are.” Lance said with a soft laugh. “Being able to cook eggs and mac and cheese isn’t a great culinary achievement.”

Shiro pouted harder, picking up his cutlery and beginning to eat. “I can cook pancakes too.” He grumbled softly.

“Oh, yes, of course. I’m so sorry. Being able to cook eggs, mac and cheese, and pancakes isn’t a great culinary achievement.”

“That’s mean.”

 

“I think you’re pancakes are great, daddy.” Ella said, patting his hand in consolation.

“Thank you, princess.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t good.” Lance snorted. “But also you can’t flip them.”

“Last time I’m coming over for dinner.” Shiro grumbled softly and Lance giggled.

“Oh, I’m sure.”

“I mean it!”

“I’m sure you do.” Lance said, nodding.

“Papa, don’t be mean to daddy.” Ella said softly. “I don’t want him not to come over anymore.”

“Daddy’s only teasing, sweetheart.” Lance said. “He’d never not come and see you, you know that.”

“Promise, daddy?”

“Of course I promise, beautiful. Papa’s right. I will always come and see you.” He said softly and she nodded.

“Okay, daddy.” She said with a smile. “Papa, can I have ice cream when I’m finished?”

Lance hummed. “Is there any left?”

“There is, there is.” She said quickly, nodding.

“Well, okay then. But you have to eat all of your vegetables, hm?”

Ella pouted but nodded, making a point of eating a piece of broccoli. 

“There’s a good girl.” Lance smiled, doing the same. “See- daddy’s eating his greens, aren’t you?” Lance asked, looking pointedly to Shiro who got a spoonful of peas and ate them.

“Mmhm. I love vegetables.” Shiro said, nodding. “They’re very yummy.”

Ella wrinkled her nose. “I think ice cream is more yummy.”

“Ice cream is not in the same category, so you can’t compare them.” Lance said.

“They’re both food.” Ella said with a shrug, reluctantly eating some carrots.

When they were finished, Lance cleared away, getting Ella her bowl of ice cream and Shiro came into the kitchen to help Lance load the dishwasher.

“Do you want to watch some tv tonight, or go and play in your room?” Lance called to Ella.

“Uh, tv, papa!” She called back, bringing her empty bowl in a few minutes later. 

“Okay, you wanna go and switch it on?” He asked and she nodded, going into the living room.

“You okay with watching tv for a bit?” Lance asked, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s waist and pressing his face into his neck.

“Mmmmhm.” Shiro nodded, wrapping his arms around Lance in turn. “As long as Ella will forgive me if I fall asleep.”

Lance laughed softly, looking up at him and gently kissing his jaw. “We can go to bed after, my love.”

Shiro nodded, taking Lance’s hand and kissing it, before leading him into the living room, dropping it as they got there and settling onto the couch, Ella quickly climbing into his lap.

Lance opened the cupboard, getting out some blankets and draping one over Ella and Shiro, before curling up on the other end of the sofa with his own and looking at what Ella had chosen for them to watch.

Lance didn’t know what it was, but it was clearly made for her age bracket, which was fine, and meant that hopefully it wouldn’t be too long, so they all watched it, Lance glancing to them every so often; Ella avidly watching, and Shiro dozing.

After it was over, Shiro seemed properly asleep so Lance carefully lifted Ella off of his lap, carrying her down to her room.

“Why’s daddy sleeping?” She asked with a small pout as she changed into her pyjamas and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

“Because daddy’s hand a long day at work and he’s very tired, sweetheart.” Lance said softly, tucking her into bed when she was done.

“Are you still gonna read to me?” She asked and Lance smiled.

“Of course, which one do you want?”

“Um, the one with the elephants please, papa.” She said and Lance went over to the bookshelf, getting the book out and sitting on the edge of the bed, reading it to her.

He stopped when it seemed like she was asleep, and he kissed her forehead, turning out the light and pulling the door to after him and heading back into the living room, sitting down on the sofa next to where Shiro was still asleep.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Lance said gently, stroking through his hair.

Shiro shifted in his sleep, face crinkling and then he slowly opened his eyes. “Mm, what?” He asked sleepily.

“You ready to go to bed, sleepy baby?” He asked softly and Shiro nodded.

“Come on then.” Lance said, standing up and helping Shiro up, wrapping an arm around his waist as they walked down to their room and Lance carefully undressed him, before letting him fall into bed, clambering in next to him after undressing himself.

Shiro made a soft sleepy noise, immediately snuggling next to Lance and throwing an arm over his waist, pulling him close against him.

Lance turned onto his back, wrapping an arm around him and Shiro gave a soft contented sigh.

“How was work, sleepy baby?” He asked gently.

Shiro made a non committal noise. “Fine. ‘M just tired.”

“Baby…” Lance said softly. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” 

“Say that it was fine when it wasn’t because of what you think I’ll say.”

Shiro sighed. “We don’t need to talk about it.”

“I _want_ to talk about it. I want to ask you how your day was and for you to be able to tell me how shitty it was and how exhausted you are and how your boss is overworking you or the paper machine broke and fucked you over, I don’t know, anything. I want you to be able to tell me that you had a shitty day without thinking that I’m going to tell you I told you so, or that you need to find a new job. Because I did, I know, and I shouldn’t have. Things are gonna be different now though, right? That’s what you said.”

Shiro gave a heavy sigh, giving a small nod and giving a small sniff. “Yeah.” He said quietly. “I’m just… really stressed, and really tired. And I’m working on something, and it’s… not going great.”

Lance nodded, gently stroking his hair.

“And it’s just, getting on top of me.” He said, sighing again and Lance felt him clench his jaw. “And I’ve been working on it all week every evening and the only good night’s sleep I had was when I was here last and…” He broke off with a shaky breath, pressing his face into the crook of Lance’s neck.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart.” Lance said gently, holding him tighter to him. “It’s okay.” 

“It’s not.” Shiro mumbled, shaking his head.

“You are going to have a nice relaxing weekend here, okay? And then you can start afresh on Monday, rested up and thing’s will look better, okay? I promise.” He said softly and Shiro gave another small sniff, nodding.

“Okay.” He said softly.

“Get some sleep for now, my love.” He said and Shiro nodded again, pressing a soft kiss to his neck.

 

*** 

 

Shiro was still asleep when Lance woke up, and he gently held him for a little while, looking down at him after he decided he wasn’t getting back to sleep, gently stroking through his hair and looking at the peaceful look on his face.

It was all he could do really to make sure that he got at least a few good nights of sleep and had a rest while he was here, doing some things with his family to take his mind off of it.

He could tell when Shiro woke up, breathing pattern changing a little, nose crinkling, before turning his face further into Lance’s chest, as if he didn’t want to wake up yet, or admit that he was awake.

“Hey there, beautiful.” Lance murmured, pressing a kiss to his head and Shiro made a non committal grumbling noise. “It’s morning, I promise.” Lance said with a gentle laugh, and Shiro shook his head.

“Night time.” He mumbled. “Sleepy time.”

“You can go back to sleep if you really want, my darling.” Lance said gently and Shiro gave a small shrug.

“Cuddle.” He said softly, nuzzling his nose against Lance’s chest.

“Okay, angel.” Lance said softly, kissing his head. “Ella’ll be up soon, though.”

Shiro gave a soft grumble. “What time ‘s it?”

“Mm, around eight?” 

“Too early.”

“I know baby, but Ella’s been waking up early lately.”

“I don’t wanna get up ‘n pretend ‘m not in love with you.” Shiro mumbled, holding onto Lance tighter and Lance sighed, frowning.

“I know. But just for a few more weeks, okay? It’s the right decision, you know that.”

Shiro gave a reluctant nod. “Yeah…”

Lance gave a soft hum, gently tracing his fingertips over Shiro’s skin as they laid there quietly.

“You want me to take care of that?” He asked after a few moments and Shiro made a noise of confusion.

“Of what?” 

Lance gave a small snort. “Of that.” He said, nudging his leg between Shiro’s thighs where he was hard.

“Oh.” Shiro said softly, huffing softly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“You hadn’t noticed.” Lance said, rolling his eyes affectionately.

Shiro shook his head.

“So _do_ you want me to?”

“Mm, ‘m tired.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

“No it wasn’t.” Shiro said, huffing a laugh and then yawning. 

“It’s okay, I’ll forgive you if you fall asleep mid blow job, darling.”

“Mmm, okay.” Shiro said with a nod, and Lance rolled him off of his chest onto his back, pulling the covers back and shuffling down the bed, positioning himself between Shiro’s legs.

Lance hummed, gently teasing the tip of his finger up his shaft and Shiro gave a soft contented sigh, carefully threading his fingers through Lance’s hair.

Lance smiled softly, looking up at him and wrapping his fingers loosely around the base of his cock, giving it a few strokes before bringing the tip to his lips, giving is a few soft kisses.

“Mm, you’re pretty.” Shiro said softly, giving him a sleepy smile. 

Lance gave a small roll of his eyes, smiling and looking up at him. “Thank you.” He murmured, before swirling his tongue around the tip of his cock, watching Shiro sigh softly, biting his lip. “Keep a watch on the door.” He murmured.

Shiro nodded, not moving his gaze from Lance, breathing a soft moan as Lance carefully took his cock into his mouth, humming around him as he sank down onto it, taking in as much as he comfortably could, teasing the underside with his tongue.

“Lance…” Shiro breathed softly, fingers curling in his hair, gently stroking over his scalp and Lance hummed softly in response, bringing his other hand to gently play with his balls.

Shiro gave a gentle whine, eyes fluttering closed as Lance massaged them between his fingers, slowly bobbing his head over his length, sucking as he went.

“Please can you just keep doing this forever?” Shiro asked with a tired smile, giving a soft moan as Lance sucked a little harder, laughing around him.

“As much as I would love to, I do have other things to attend to, my love.” He said softly, pressing wet open mouthed kisses down the side of his shaft, taking one of his balls into his mouth and sucking lightly. 

“Mm, nothing as important.” Shiro breathed, gasping softly, tightening his grip a little in Lance’s hair as he ran his hand over his length as he sucked at his balls.

Lance rolled his eyes, letting them go from his mouth with a pop and giving him a look. 

“There are more important things than your cock, Takashi, as wonderful as it may be.” He said in a soft loving tease and Shiro pouted, using his grip in Lance’s hair to guide his head back to his cock.

“Shh.” He murmured, giving a soft sigh as Lance wrapped his lips back around his cock, taking it back into his mouth. “Not right now, there’s not.” He said, giving a small laugh.

Lance laughed around him, giving him a look and hollowing his cheeks, sucking and bobbing his head, pulling off and blowing cool air onto his tip, tongue darting out to flick through his slit a few times, salty precum beading as he did so.

“Lance…” He moaned softly, biting his lip.

Lance looked up at him, sinking back down, relaxing his throat the best he could and focusing hard as he took Shiro deeper, feeling the tip hit the back of his throat and slip slightly down, doing his best to resist the urge to gag.

“O-oh shit.” Shiro moaned, grip tightening in Lance’s hair, hips stuttering a little, making Lance have to pull his head up before he choked. 

“You wanna move, baby?” He asked, voice a little raspy and Shiro bit his lip, nodding, guiding Lance’s mouth back onto his cock and gently beginning to thrust his hips.

Lance moaned softly around him, using his hands to work over what wasn’t in his mouth and to play with his balls, Shiro’s breaths quickening, panting softly as he gently thrust into Lance’s mouth.

“Lance, god.” Shiro gasped as Lance moved his head to meet him, cock slipping into his throat again, feeling tears prick at his eyes. “Lance- Lance, baby-”

Lance hummed in response, Shiro whimpering at the feel of it and Lance hummed again, sucking as he pulled off, letting Shiro fuck back into his mouth.

“M not gonna last.” He moaned.

“Mmmhm.” Lance moaned in response, bobbing his head to meet him and sucking as he went, teasing his tongue over the underside of his cock.

“Lance- oh, b-baby I’m gonna cum-” He moaned, loosening his grip to give Lance the opportunity to pull off, but Lance simply looked up at him and winked, taking as much of him into his mouth as he could, sucking hard and Shiro cried out softly, clearly struggling to keep his hips still as he came, Lance doing his best to swallow it all, before pulling off, panting, a little cum spilling from his lips onto his chin.

He gave Shiro a breathless grin, wrapping his hand around his cock and stroking it gently, watching as Shiro whined and squirmed on the bed.

“Lance-” He gasped breathlessly and Lance wiped his mouth, pulling the cover back over them and moving back up the bed next to him.

“Was that good?” He asked in a soft tease, voice a little rough and Shiro rolled his eyes, pressing their lips together.

“I think you know the answer to that.” 

“Mm, I think I might. You didn’t fall asleep.” Lance teased against his lips, pressing a succession of soft kisses there.

“How could I possibly?” Shiro asked with a soft hum, resting their foreheads together.

Lance laughed softly, gently brushing their noses together. “You’re beautiful.” He murmured and Shiro gave a soft gasp.

“How dare you? That’s what I was about to say.”

Lance gave a small giggle and kissed him quickly. “Say it then.”

“You’re stunning.” Shiro murmured, and Lance flushed.

“That was not what you said you were going to say.” He said, biting his lip.

“Mm, I could be here all day giving you compliments.” He said, Lance letting go of his lip as Shiro kissed him, Shiro gently biting on it instead.

Lance breathed a soft sigh into his mouth as Shiro nibbled on his lip, letting Shiro pull him into his lap. 

“You also look particularly gorgeous when these pretty lips are around my cock.” He murmured and Lance rolled his eyes, whacking him lightly.

“Oh, I’m sure.” He said and Shiro gave a soft laugh, kissing him again.

“And you look gorgeous when you’re all spread out beneath me.” He murmured, pressing kisses along his jaw. “And bent over, and on top of me, too.” 

Lance bit his lip, tilting his head a little as Shiro kissed him. “Turning me on again isn’t the best idea when our daughter’s about to wake up, baby…” Lance breathed.

“Mm, and you also look gorgeous when you’re making dinner and when you’re curled up in a little ball on the corner of the couch, and when you’re teasing me and when you’re laughing, and when you have a face mask on, and when your hair is all curly from the shower and when you’re crying and when you’re sleepy, just before you fall asleep and especially just when you wake up, and you look gorgeous in the moonlight and in the sunlight and in the ocean and laying on the beach and laying right here in our bed, and you look gorgeous when you’re doing work and you’re frowning and sitting at the table, and when you’re doing absolutely nothing at all, and you look absolutely gorgeous right about now, absolutely stunningly breathtaking and I have got to be the luckiest man in the world.” 

Lance wasn’t sure at what point during that he’d started crying, but he was suddenly aware that he couldn’t swallow because of the lump in his throat and his cheeks were wet and hot with tears.

“Why are you crying, my angel?” Shiro asked gently, tenderly cupping his face and pressing a kiss to each of his tear tracked cheeks.

“I love you.” Lance said softly, voice a little shaky. “I missed you so much. I missed you so much, Takashi, you don’t even know how much… I don’t… know how I got through this past year, I really don’t. I love you.” He said, sniffing. 

“I know, baby.” Shiro said softly. “I know.”

“We should have tried harder.” Lance said, eyes filling with tears again as he buried his face into Shiro’s neck.

“Angel, there’s no use talking like that.” Shiro said softly, gently stroking his back. “What happened happened, and I think it _had_ to happen, really. And even if it could have been avoided… things are already better, aren’t they? I think we’re definitely appreciating having each other more than we did before.” 

Lance sniffed and gave a small nod. 

“But we can’t keep thinking about what we _could_ or _should_ have done, yeah? It happened and it was shit, but we’re here now and we’re _okay_. We’re more than okay, we’re _good_ , and we’re gonna keep being good.”

Lance gave another nod, pulling back up so he could look at him, gently stroking his thumb across Shiro’s cheek and then gently kissing him. 

“You’re right.” He said softly. 

“I am.” Shiro agreed, gently taking Lance’s face in his hands, tipping it down and kissing his forehead. 

Lance gave a soft sigh. “Let’s get up then, I think we’re lucky we haven’t had a visitor yet.”

Shiro nodded, giving a small laugh and Lance got up out of his lap, walking over to his drawers and getting out some clothes, putting them on and rolling his eyes as he glanced back to Shiro who had neglected getting up in favour of watching him.

“Though I must say, I have very much enjoyed the extra closet space.” He said teasingly and Shiro snorted, getting up and pulling on his underwear, walking over to Lance and wrapping his arms around him.

“Of course you have.” He grinned, gently nipping at his ear lobe and then letting go of him to put the rest of his clothes on.

“But I will begrudgingly give you back your sides because I am a loving husband.” Lance said, putting a hand on his heart and Shiro laughed.

“Thank you, darling.” He said, wiping an imaginary tear away and opening the door, holding it open for Lance. “Also, I thought you were my boyfriend.”

“I can definitely be both.” Lance said with a giggle. 

“Mm, you seem to be throwing the word husband around when it suits you, babe.” Shiro said, laughing and Lance gasped.

“I would never. How dare you suggest such a thing? I am a great boyfriend.”

“Oh, for sure.” Shiro nodded, taking his hand as they walked into the kitchen.

“Don’t you take that tone with me, mister. I don’t think you would have married me if I wasn’t a great boyfriend.”

Shiro grinned. “You know, you are absolutely right.” He said, kissing his cheek and opening the fridge.

“Of course I am. I’m always right, we’ve discussed this.” Lance grinned back, getting out the milk. “Coffee?”

“Please.” Shiro nodded, plugging the toaster in.

Lance hummed, making them both a coffee as Shiro made some toast and it was a few minutes before Ella came in, waving to them and hopping up onto a chair.

“Hey beautiful.” Lance smiled, getting her a cup and some juice out. “How did you sleep?”

“Good.” She said with a nod, taking a long sip. “Is daddy gonna be awake all day?” She asked and Lance laughed.

“Daddy had a good nights sleep so yes, he’s going to be awake all day.”

“I am indeed.” Shiro nodded, buttering the toast as Lance made Ella her cereal.

“That’s good. Can we do something fun today?” She asked. 

“Like what, baby girl?”

“I don’t know… Can we make a cake?”

Lance hummed, tilting his head. “I should think so.” He said. “We might need to pop out to get some ingredients, but we certainly can.”

“Really?” Ella asked excitedly.

“Sure.” Lance smiled, nodding. 

“We should make a fort too, later.” She said with a nod as Lance gave her her cereal, immediately digging in.

“A fort…?”

“You know, like a blanket one.” 

“Oh, I see. Well, I’m sure we can do that as well.” Lance said with a soft laugh, sitting down as Shiro gave him his toast. “Thanks baby.” He said softly, picking a slice up and taking a bite.

“Can we do it right now?” She asked.

“Well, we should probably finish eating breakfast first.” Lance said with a soft laugh. “But if you really want to then I suppose we could go out after that.”

Ella nodded excitedly. “Are you gonna use my special recipe book?”

“Mmhm.” Lance nodded, finishing up his toast and going across to the shelf, getting it down and handing it to Ella.

“Have a flip through there and tell me what you want to make.” 

Ella took it from him, looking through the pages before stopping on one. “This one please.”

Lance hummed, taking it from her. “Gingerbread men, huh?” He asked, showing the recipe to Shiro.

“Those does look good.” Shiro admitted, biting his lip. 

“Okay, okay, let me see what we need to get.” Lance said, looking over the ingredients and going through the cupboards, getting various things out, before looking at the book again. “Okay, we just need to get ginger, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and things to decorate with.” He said.

“I love sprinkles. Can we get extra for my ice cream?”

“Mmmm, okay.” Lance said, nodding. “Finish your breakfast and go and change, okay?”

Ella nodded, finishing her last few mouthfuls and hopping down off the counter and rushing down to her bedroom.

“I think she’s been inspired by Hunk, she’s been wanting to bake a lot recently.” Lance said with a thoughtful hum and Shiro tilted his head.

“Oh yeah? You do this a lot?”

“Well, not a _lot_ , but sometimes, yeah. We made cookies a few weeks ago. They were good, but we made quite a mess.” He said, laughing fondly at the memory.

Shiro nodded, biting his lip and Lance looked at him for a long moment.

“You okay?” He asked, reaching out to gently stroke his thumb over Shiro’s cheek.

“Yeah.” Shiro said, nodding. 

“Are you sure?” Lance asked with a small frown.

Shiro sighed. “Yes. I’m just… thinking about things I’ve missed, I guess.” 

Lance bit his lip and nodded in understanding. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” He said, with a small shrug. 

Lance didn’t really know what he could say to make that one better, so he wrapped his arms around Shiro instead, pressing a kiss to his shoulder and Shiro gave a soft sigh, leaning into his touch.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked softly and Shiro nodded, turning slightly and pressing his lips to Lance’s forehead, giving him a small smile.

“Yeah.” He said and Lance smiled back, kissing his nose. 

“Go and find Ella then, I’ll make a note of what we need to get.” He said and Shiro got up off of the chair, heading down the hall.

Lance pulled his phone out, taking a photo of the ingredients and then put the plates and Ella’s bowl in the dishwasher and put the toaster away, going to put his shoes and coat on and wait for Shiro and Ella.

They came back out a few moments later, Ella bundled up in her coat and Shiro knelt down, helping her put her shoes on, before putting his own on, grabbing up his coat and keys.

Ella wanted to sit in the cart when they got to the store, and so Shiro lifted her in and pushed her around, while Lance directed them to the right aisles, picking up what they needed.

“Any requests for dinner while we’re here?” Lance asked, looking around.

“Macaroni?” Ella asked, swinging her legs.

“You up for cooking, or you want me to?” Lance asked Shiro, and Shiro nodded.

“I can do it.” Shiro said and Lance steered them to get what they needed for dinner, before finally going to the baking aisle to look at the decorations. Ella was quick to pick sprinkles up and put two tubes into the cart, followed by different coloured icing tubes and different little things that she liked the look of. Lance went to the chocolate aisle while she and Shiro looked at decorations to get some chocolate buttons and things.

They queued and paid and then made their way back home, Shiro unpacking the shopping while Ella excitedly waited for him to get everything ready as Lance dug around for their cookie cutters.

“Babe, will you heat the oven?” He asked, not catching himself in time as he turned to Shiro. “It’s 180.”

Shiro nodded, doing as Lance instructed and turning the oven on as Lance consulted the recipe and got out some mixing bowls.

“Are you gonna help measure out the ingredients, baby?” Lance asked as he got the scales out and Ella nodded quickly. “Okay, can you ask daddy to open the flour? We need 350 grams of that.” 

Ella picked up the bag, giving it to Shiro who opened it and gave it back, before lifting Ella up, so that she could tip it into the bowl on the scales, stopping when Lance told her to.

“There, perfect.” Lance said, spooning a little back in. “Okay, next we need some butter, now daddy’s gonna help you hold the knife okay?” 

Ella nodded as Lance opened the butter, lining it up to the 100 gram mark on the packet and making an indent with the knife before giving it to Ella, and Shiro quickly wrapped his hand around hers, helping her to make the cut.

“Perfect.” Lance said with a smile, moving it onto a plate. “Now, you have to be very careful with this one because it’s a very little spoon.” He said, getting out a teaspoon for the ginger. “We need five of those.”

They continued measuring out the ingredients until they had everything, Lance helping to crack the egg, and having to spoon out a little shell. 

Lance then got out a big mixing bowl, reading out the ingredients as Ella put them into the bowl, giving her a wooden spoon. Shiro held the bowl for her as she mixed the ingredients together.

“Ella- Ella- slower, you’re making a mess.” Lance said quickly, putting his hand around hers on the spoon after she’d send flour flying everywhere.

She just giggled, slowing her movements as Lance guided her, speeding up again when he let go, laughing loudly.

“Ella, it’s not funny!” Lance said, but he was laughing too. “We won’t have as many gingerbread men if you waste all the ingredients.

“Sorry papa.” She said, pouting, and slowing back down.

“Okay, it says here to mix with your fingers until it’s crumbly. Do you think you can do that or do you need daddy’s help?”

“I can do it!” Ella said, putting the spoon down on the side and putting her hands into the bowl, immediately making more of a mess.

“Can I have a turn, do you think?” Shiro asked and Ella made a deliberating noise before nodding. 

Shiro put his hands in, too, helping to get the mixture to a nice crumbly consistency.

“Okay, go and wash your hands and let daddy finish so you can put the wet ingredients in.” Lance said and Ella went over to the sink, letting Lance lift her up so she could reach the taps, washing and drying her hands, before going back over to the side.

She put in the syrup, egg and sugar into the mix and Lance gave her the spoon back, letting her stir it.

She was better this time, not making such a mess and letting Shiro help towards the end, taking the spoon out and using their hands.

Once it was ready, Lance floured the side, getting out the rolling pin and Shiro helped Ella to roll the mixture out, while Lance helped her press down the cutter and lift it up, laying them one by one into the baking tray.

“Okay, they’re going in the oven now.” Lance said, putting on the oven gloves and opening it up, sliding the tray in and closing the door.

After Lance cleaned Ella’s hands and face with a wet cloth, they set her in front of the tv while the gingerbread men baked, Shiro and Lance in the kitchen doing the washing up.

“Was that a satisfactory cooking experience?” Lance asked and Shiro laughed softly.

“It was messier than I thought it would be.”

“She’s four, Takashi, of course it was messy.” Lance giggled. 

Shiro laughed. “We should do this again.”

“We should. I’d suggest a gingerbread house but I’m not sure we’re ready for that level of advanced yet.” He giggled. “We should definitely make some other stuff though.”

Shiro nodded. “That sounds like fun.” He said softly, drying his hands off and wrapping his arms around Lance, pulling him against him.

Lance smiled, giving a soft contented sigh and leaning back against him, turning his face to catch his cheek with his lips.

“Have you any idea how to make a blanket fort?” Shiro asked after a few moments and Lance snorted.

“Takashi, don’t tell me you’ve never made a blanket fort.”

“Uh…”

Lance gasped. “I can’t believe it. You’ve never made a blanket fort?”

Shiro shrugged. “I don’t think so, no. Why have you?”

“Blanket forts are a sacred part of childhood, Shiro. And I have four siblings, of course I’ve made them. I must have made hundreds.”

“Well… At least we’ll be able to make a good one then?”

Lance laughed and rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you. But yes, we will make the best, I’ll make sure of that.”

“Mm, I’ll put my trust in you.” He said and Lance giggled.

“They should be nearly done now.” Lance said with a hum, going over to the oven to look at them. “How long’s left on the timer?”

“Uhh.. two minutes.” Shiro said, checking.

“Mm, we probably shouldn’t get Ella until they’re cooled though, or she’ll want to decorate them straight away.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Shiro nodded.

“So what do you want to do for a minute and a half?” Lance asked with a grin, already snaking his arms around Shiro’s neck.

“Oh, I’m sure I can think of something.” He murmured, brushing their lips together and pulling back, smiling as Lance pouted, standing on his tiptoes to press their lips together more firmly.

Shiro hummed, wrapping his arms around Lance’s waist and pulling him closer, teasingly dragging his bottom lip between his teeth and giving a soft tug. 

Lance gave a soft giggle, nipping back when Shiro let go, tongue slipping into his mouth, both jumping as the timer went off and they broke apart, giggling softly.

Lance went over to the oven, putting on the gloves and opening it, getting the tray out and resting the gingerbread men on a cooling rack.

“Mmm… so if we make the blanket fort in the living room then we can watch tv from it.” Lance said with a hum.

“That sounds good.” Shiro said with a nod. 

“But we’re gonna need to use the chairs from the dining room so… if we just eat in here we’ll be fine.” 

Shiro nodded, pressing a kiss to Lance’s cheek. “Mmhm, now where were we?” 

Lance laughed softly, turning his head to catch the corner of Shiro’s lips. “Mm, I think we were somewhere around… here…” He murmured against Shiro’s lips, kissing him softly.

“Oh, yeah, we were.” Shiro hummed in agreement, smiling against his lips and resting his hand on the small of Lance’s back, gently stroking over his skin, under the hem of his shirt.

Lance made a soft noise against his lips, smoothing his hands over Shiro’s chest, before looping them around his neck. 

Shiro hummed, backing Lance up against the now clear counter, hooking his arms under his thighs and lifting him up, Lance wrapping his legs around Shiro’s waist, breathing a soft moan into his mouth.

Shiro broke away, pressing kisses down Lance’s neck, Lance tilting his head to the side, eyes fluttering closed as Shiro nipped at the skin, pulling the collar of his shirt down so he could suck a mark into the skin there.

Lance moaned, curling a hand in Shiro’s hair, biting his lip, wrapping his legs around him tighter and pulling him closer.

“Mm, babe…” Lance moaned softly and Shiro hummed in response. “They’re- probably cool.. We can’t- I-”

Shiro laughed against his skin, pressing a few more kisses and then pulling back.

“You’re so cute, you get worked up so easily.” He said, kissing Lance’s nose and Lance grumbled.

“S not my fault you like to exploit my weaknesses.”

Shiro grinned. “It’s not my fault you have a sensitive neck.” 

Lance rolled his eyes, kissing his lips again and then hopping down off of the counter, going over to the gingerbread men and lightly touching them to see if they were still hot.

“Okay, you wanna get Ells?” Lance asked, going over to the shopping bag and laying out the different decorating things they’d bought. 

Shiro nodded, going out of the kitchen and coming back in a few moments later with a very excited Ella, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Lance got her stool out so that Shiro wouldn’t have to lift her up and she climbed up, looking excitedly at them.

“Can I eat one now?” She asked.

“No, baby, we have to decorate them first, remember?”

“Okaaaay.” She said, looking at the icing tubes and picking up the black one, starting by giving one of them black hair and then doing the face.

“That’s looking good.” Lance said and she hummed in concentration, picking up the white icing and putting a little in the middle of the hair. “Is that daddy?” He asked, laughing.

“Mhm!” She said, nodding and then using a little bit of red to do the scar on his nose. “This one’s you, papa.” She said, pointing to a plain one and putting the tube down. “There’s no brown… I think you should have pink hair.” 

Lance laughed and she picked up the pink tube, doing Lance’s hair, and then using the black to do his face. She used yellow for her own hair and then pink to draw on her clothes, blue for Lance’s and purple for Shiro’s.

“There, it’s us.” She said with a proud smile. 

“They’re great, princess.” Shiro said, kissing her head. “How are you going to decorate the others?” 

“Uh… I wanna do Uncle Keith.” She said, picking up the black again and using a lot of it to do his hair, some dripping down the sides and through the grid of the rack. 

“Be careful not to waste it, angel.”

After that she decorated them to look like Allura, Pidge and Hunk, using pink for Pidge’s hair.

“You and daddy can do some, papa.” She said, shoving the tubes of icing in his direction.

“Thank you, baby.” He said, picking up one of the tubes and starting and Shiro did the same. They didn’t decorate them to look like anyone in particular, but Ella seemed happy enough with them.

She got the different sprinkles after that, decorating them all heavily with them, saving the last tube of sprinkles for her ice cream.

“I think we’re done.” She said, nodding as she looked at them.

“They’re beautiful.” Lance said, getting his phone out to take a few pictures. 

“Can I eat one _now_?”

“I think we can all have one. Just one though, okay?” He said, and Shiro quickly picked up the one that Ella had decorated as Lance.

Lance snorted and picked up Shiro’s and Ella picked up her own and they all ate them.

“Do you like them?” Lance asked as she ate and she nodded.

“Yes, yes, yes, they’re really yummy.”

“They are, you did a good job.” Shiro said, ruffling her hair. 

“Can we make the fort now?” She asked.

“Mm, okay. I’ll go and get everything we need if you help daddy clear up the decorations okay?”

She nodded and Lance went down to his room, opening the drawers to get out a couple of sheets and blankets, carrying them into the living room and moving the coffee table out of the way, before putting them on it. 

After that he gathered some cushions and soft toys from Ella’s room, bringing those in too, and rooting around in some draws before finding an old battery powered set of fairy lights. Lastly, he got some clothing pegs and got some heavy books off of the bookshelf, going back into the kitchen to get Ella and Shiro.

“You ready?” He asked, rolling his eyes as he saw both Shiro and Ella freeze in place, where they’d both broken up gingerbread man Keith’s body and were eating him. “Does anyone listen to anything I say?” 

“Sorry.” Shiro said, biting his lip and Lance took the piece out of Shiro’s hand, eating it with a smile.

“Come on.” He said, ushering them out. “If you could bring the dining chairs in, that would be great.” He said, putting the leftover gingerbread men into a tin and closing the lid, before following them out.

“What is all of this?” Ella asked, looking at the things that Lance had gathered.

“It’s everything we need to make an awesome blanket fort, duh.”

“I thought we just needed blankets.” 

Lance snorted, picking one up and putting it over her head. “Uh huh, that’s a great blanket fort you have there, sweetie.”

Ella giggled, pulling it off and giving him a look.

“We need all of these. Now, let me help daddy.” He said, going to help Shiro bring the chairs in from the dining room. “Okay, we have to put them like this.” 

He positioned them facing outwards with a gap in the middle in front of the sofa, putting down a few blankets on the floor. 

“Now we need to put some cushions.” He said, draping a blanket over each of the sides of the chairs and lining them with pillow. “Pick what you want and go and sit, okay?”

Ella nodded, going over to the coffee table and picking up a few cushions and toys, going to sit down on the blanket. Shiro quickly did the same, pecking Lance’s cheek when Ella wasn’t looking and Lance rolled his eyes.

“Okay, so now comes the fort part.” He said, draping a big sheet over the tops of the chair, successfully covering where Shiro and Ella were sat. 

He put the books on the chairs, trapping the sheet successfully and then getting the fairy lights and the clothes pegs, crawling in with Shiro and Ella and clipping them to the ceiling and switching them on.

“Is this okay?” He asked and Ella nodded.

“It’s the best!” She said happily, snuggling down against Shiro and Lance crawled back out to get the tv remote, positioning the entrance to the fort so that they could see the tv. 

“You wanna pick something?” He asked, flipping through the channels and stopping when she told him to. 

They lounged watching things on tv like that until around dinner time, Ella had fallen asleep around half an hour ago.

“You want me to make dinner?” Lance asked softly, gesturing to where Ella was asleep curled on Shiro’s lap. 

Shiro bit his lip, looking down at her. “I can do it if we just move her carefully.”

“Are you sure?”

“Lance, let me make dinner.” He said, leaning over to gently kiss him. 

“Okay.” Lance said softly, kissing him again and then carefully moving Ella into his lap instead.

Shiro crawled out of the fort and Lance changed the channel, turning the volume down a little and watching it while Ella slept until Shiro called them for dinner.

“Ella, sweetheart.” He said gently, stroking her hair. “It’s time to wake up, dinner’s ready.”

She scrunched her nose up as she yawned, brows pinching into a frown, mumbling softly as she came to.

“Is is macaroni?” She asked sleepily, rubbing her eye and Lance nodded.

“Mmhm. Daddy made it especially for you.” He smiled, carefully crawling out with her and picking her up, carrying her into the kitchen, setting her down on her chair at the breakfast bar.

“Hey princess, did you have a good sleep?” Shiro asked with a smile, kissing her head and sitting down. 

“Mmhm. I dreamed that we were all gingerbread men, but we ate our house.” She said sadly, shaking her head and picking up her cutlery. 

“Oh.” Lance said, frowning. “That doesn’t sound too good.”

“It was okay, we just baked a new house.” She said with a shrug and Shiro and Lance looked at each other and then laughed. 

“This is really nice, thank you baby.” Lance said quietly to him after taking a mouthful. Shiro smiled back, taking a bite of his own. 

After they’d eaten, Ella quickly reminded Lance of her sprinkles, and so he got her out some ice cream, letting her empty them over the bowl and eat them. 

“What d’you want to do before bed, baby?” Lance asked as she ate and she hummed.

“Uh… can we play with my dollshouse?” She asked.

“We can.” Lance said, nodding. 

Ella finished her ice cream quickly, taking both Shiro and Lance’s hands and dragging them to her bedroom, sitting down in front of her dollshouse, pulling Shiro and Lance to sit down on either side of her and giving them each one of the people.

“Papa you can be the mummy and daddy can be the daddy and I’m gonna be the babies.” She said, picking up one of the children and getting it out of bed, walking it down the stairs.

They played for a little while until Lance said they had to put everyone to bed. Ella pouted, but let them have ‘bedtime’ and go to bed, before going into the bathroom to brush her teeth and put her pyjamas on.

Shiro read to her when she was in bed, and they each kissed her forehead, before going out, pulling the door to behind her and going back into the living room.

“You wanna make use of the blanket fort?” Lance asked, lacing their fingers together.

“Mm, cuddling with you always sounds good.” Shiro said softly as they crawled in, lifting an arm for Lance to crawl under as they flipped through the channels on the tv, before settling on a movie that had just started. 

Lance fell asleep part way through the movie, waking up as Shiro carefully carried him to bed, smiling softly as Shiro pressed a kiss to his forehead and settled into bed, pulling Lance against him.

“Mm.. love you.” Lance said sleepily, nuzzling him.

“I love you, too.” Shiro said softly back, kissing his head. “Go back to sleep, angel.”

Lance gave a sleepy nod, pressing a kiss to his chest and was asleep again in moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg i was reading the last chapter to my gf on the phone (yes even the smut -_- she forced me) and thERE WERE SO MANY TYPOS I AM SO SORRY i never edit anything and im always writing between 12-5am
> 
> also lmao i got a ton of new ideas for wholesome family content from a great new shance server im in which,,, yall should totally ask me for a link to b t W bc its gr8. but yES if you want more wholesome family time i gotchu covered.
> 
> also remember when i said 10 chapters pay no attention to me i dont know what the hell i am talking about ever
> 
>  
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated !!! 
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know)


	9. Chapter 9

Lance woke up slowly in the morning, warm and snuggled in Shiro’s arms. He let out a soft sigh, a small smile curling at his lips and he snuggled down further, burying his face in the space between Shiro’s chest and his arm. 

He felt Shiro laugh, soft and tired, and then fingers lacing through his hair. “Morning, beautiful.” He said with a smile, humming softly.

Lance made a non committal sleepy noise, shaking his head and Shiro laughed again.

“Mmmmhm. It’s nearly half ten.”

Lance grumbled at that. Nearly half ten? Why was it so late already?

“Ugh.” He mumbled, sniffing and sitting up, rubbing his eye. 

“Hey there.” Shiro smiled, gently cupping Lance’s face and Lance glared at him. “Don’t be grumpy, baby.”

Lance pouted, making a small whining noise. “Don’t want it to be Sunday.” 

“I know, baby.” Shiro said softly.

“Already half ten? Allura’s coming at- oh shit, Allura’s coming.” 

Shiro raised an eyebrow.

“I’m uh, helping her with clothes stuff. She’s got a ton to do and I’m just helping out with fitting and sewing and shit… She’s really overworked.” He said, sighing and running a hand over his face.

“When is she coming?”

“Twelve?” He said, biting his lip. “But I mean… If you wanted to stay, you could.”

Shiro frowned apprehensively. “I don’t know that that’s such a good idea…”

“I mean… Just to entertain Ella for a bit, even. It’s not like you never came over, before. It would help me out, to be honest.”

Shiro smiled softly at that. “Well, how could I say no to helping you out, hm?”

Lance rolled his eyes, smiling back and leaning in to kiss him. “Thank you.”

Shiro hummed, gently stroking his thumb over Lance’s bottom lip when he pulled away. 

“That means we gotta take the fort down, because we’ll need to sit at the dining room table… So Ella won’t be too happy about that, but there’s nothing we can do, we don’t have any more chairs and we used the sofa as a back, so…”

“We can always make another one.”

“Mm, true.” Lance said and then blew out a long breath. “You’re not gonna be able to come back until Friday, though.”

Shiro frowned. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I promised her and she’s coming over every day. Friday morning’s her deadline, so, I’ve got Friday, and Pidge and Hunk are having Ella for the night so I know you’re late on Friday’s, but it’s still probably our best bet for a date.”

Shiro nodded. “Sounds good. Ice skating?”

Lance smiled. “Yeah. Ice skating. Just make sure we don’t have a last Friday situation where you’re too exhausted to do anything, hm? You need to pace yourself, my love and make sure you’re getting enough breaks and enough rest or you’ll burn out and that will be a lot worse.”

Shiro sighed. “Yeah, I know.” He said. 

“I’ll call you though when she’s gone, yeah?”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, that’ll be good.”

“I’ll miss you.” He said softly.

“I know, baby.” Shiro said, biting his lip. “I’ll miss you, too. But we don’t have to do this for much longer, yeah? Just… let’s give it a little bit more and then we’ll talk to everyone about it.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah. Just a little bit more.” He agreed. Neither of them were ready to tell their friends yet, no matter how much they wanted to stop hiding. 

“We’d better get up, then, or she’ll be arriving.”

Lance blew out a long breath and nodded. “Yeah… I mean, we could get Ella some breakfast, put her in front of the tv for a bit so we can shower, and then take the fort down.”

“Are we pretending I came by this morning, or?”

Lance hummed. “I mean, Ella will probably mention something, at least about the gingerbread men and if she knows we’re lying it’ll be worse. So we should say it got late and you stayed over.” He said with a shrug. “It’s not a big deal.”

Shiro nodded. “Okay, sounds good.”

Ella was already in the fort when they went to find her, checking first in her room and then in the living room after not spotting her. 

“Hey, baby.” Lance said with a smile, crouching by the entrance to the fort. “You want some breakfast?”

“Hi papa.” She said with a smile, waving to him. “Yes please.”

“Cereal?” He asked and she nodded, going back to watching the tv. 

Lance went into the kitchen, getting it ready for her and bringing it to her. “Be careful not to spill any milk, okay? Daddy and I are going to have a shower and get ready so you can knock on my bathroom door if you need anything, okay?”

She nodded and then Lance went back into the bedroom where Shiro was still in bed, arm propped behind his head as he waited for Lance, smiling as he came in.

“Don’t do that.” Lance said, pouting.

“I’m not… doing anything?” Shiro said, tilting his head in confusion.

“Yes, you’re sitting there looking all sexy and making me want to sit on your dick.” 

“Oh.” Shiro said, biting his lip as his cheeks flushed. “Well, you know that doesn’t sound like a terrible idea.”

Lance pursed his lips. “It’s one thing me sucking your dick, because we can just pull the covers over if she comes in. I feel like me literally riding you is a different situation, you know?”

Shiro sighed, nodding. “You could always-”

“Suck your dick?” Lance asked with a grin, rolling his eyes.

“Well, I mean…”

Lance snorted. “I will never understand your penchant for blow jobs.”

Shiro shrugged helplessly. “You give good ones.”

Lance smiled, rolling his eyes again. “Get your pretty ass up and in the bathroom.”

Shiro perked up at that, standing up and walking into the bathroom, stopping in the doorway to throw a glance to Lance over his shoulder, giving him a wink and Lance laughed, following him in, giving his ass a quick slap before turning on the shower.

“Ooh, don’t do that, we’ll have a completely different situation on our hands.” Shiro said with a laugh.

“One in which you’re a slutty sub for me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as Shiro locked the bathroom door.

Shiro pouted. “You know very well.”

“Mm, well unlucky for you, I’m not in the mood to top, nor do we have time for how sweet and clingy you get afterwards.”

Shiro pouted harder. “I’m not _sweet and clingy_.” He said in indignation.

“Yeah, okay.” Lance said, rolling his eyes and holding his hands out for Shiro, stepping under the stream of water.

“I’m not.” He whined, taking his hands and pressing Lance against the wall.

“I said okay!”

“You’re lyingggg.” 

“Mm, maybe.” Lance said with a smirk and Shiro whined again, pressing his face into Lance’s neck. 

“You’re mean.”

“Stop whining and be good and you might get to fuck me.”

Shiro stilled at that. “I thought you said it was too risky.”

“I said me riding you on the bed was too risky.” Lance said, gently trailing his fingers over Shiro’s back. “I never said you couldn’t fuck me in the shower…”

Shiro hummed softly, nuzzling Lance’s neck and pressing a few soft kisses in the curve of it.

“That sound good to you? You’re not gonna get to see me for a week…” He said and Shiro made a small unhappy noise.

“ _That_ doesn’t sound good.” He mumbled.

“I know, angel.” Lance said softly, hands trailing down to cup Shiro’s ass, giving a soft squeeze. 

Shiro whined softly, rolling his hips against Lance lightly. 

“So what’s it gonna be then, hm? You wanna have a shower?” He asked teasingly.

“I wanna fuck you.” Shiro mumbled, teeth grazing over his skin.

“Mmmm, I thought so.” Lance breathed, tilting his head a little. “Grab the lube for me, baby, it’s in the cupboard.”

Shiro whined unhappily at having to move away from Lance, stepping out of the shower and walking to the cupboard above the sink, opening it and getting the little bottle out, bringing it back over to him. 

Shiro hummed, pressing Lance back into the wall and hooking one of his thighs over his hip and Lance curled his leg around him, wetting his lip as Shiro uncapped the lube, coating his fingers and immediately sinking two into Lance.

Lance gasped, biting down hard on his lip to muffle himself, head tipping back against the wall and Shiro took the opportunity to attach his lips to Lance’s neck, only sucking lightly where his clothes wouldn’t cover, biting harder as he reached his collarbones, thrusting his fingers into him and drawing needy whimpers from Lance.

“Another- baby-” He gasped, arching into him as Shiro teasingly brushed his prostate, bringing his other hand to lightly tease the head of his cock, running the tip of a finger over his semi hard shaft, before playing with his tip and Lance groaned, panting a little. 

Shiro hummed, slipping a third finger into him, spreading them inside of him, and Lance keened softly, rocking his hips and pushing Shiro’s fingertips into his prostate, gasping harshly.

“Fuck me- fuck me, I’m ready baby, please-” He moaned, fingertips pressing into Shiro’s back and Shiro made a noise of deliberation, teasing over his prostate for a few more moments before pulling his fingers from him and slicking his cock, hiking Lance’s other thigh up, holding him up against the wall and Lance quickly wrapped his legs around him.

“I’m pretty sure we nearly died doing this, once.” Shiro murmured, kissing over Lance’s collarbones, lining his cock up at his entrance.

“I don’t care- god, I don’t care, just _fuck me_.” Lance moaned, crying out as Shiro sank into him, biting hard on his lip to muffle himself, Shiro groaning against his neck.

“God.” Shiro groaned, gripping Lance’s thighs tightly and keeping still for a few moments once he was fully seated inside of Lance, before gently beginning to rock his hips, grinding into him a few times.

Lance whimpered, head tipped back against the wall, already breathless and panting as Shiro sloppily kissed and nipped at his neck, holding him firmly against the wall and teasingly grinding into him, before pulling out and slamming back into him, hard.

“Fuck!” Lance choked out, gasping harshly as Shiro set a quick pace, fucking into him hard.

“Shh.” Shiro murmured in a soft grunt, snapping his hips, fingertips pressing hard into the flesh of Lance’s thighs as he held him.

“Please- please- please-” Lance whimpered, not having any sort of comprehension as to what he was begging for- just for Shiro to keep fucking him like this.

And he did, fucking into him hard, over and over, angling himself perfectly to hit into his prostate on almost every thrust and Lance couldn’t manage to let go of how he was clutching onto Shiro’s shoulders to throw a hand over his mouth, choosing to keep biting down on his lip with each little gasp and groan that was punched out of him.

“Kashi- baby- Takashi-” Lance whimpered and he was sure that Shiro would have crescent shaped cuts into his back where Lance’s nails were digging into him. 

“Lance- _Lance_...” Shiro groaned against him, voice low and wrecked barely even biting anymore, lips just pressed against him as he panted and groaned, snapping his hips against him, fucking into him hard and deep. 

“Baby- baby, I’m-” Lance gasped, wanting to move a hand to touch himself but he couldn’t let go. It only took a few more hard thrusts into his prostate before Lance came all over himself without the additional stimulation anyway, gasping loudly, trying to silence himself as he spilled onto his abdomen, Shiro groaning loudly against his skin as Lance clenched around him.

“Lance- Lance baby, baby, fuck-” Shiro moaned, hips stuttering as he thrust into him erratically, giving one hard, deep thrust as he came, grinding his hips, panting hard, spilling into him.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck…” Lance moaned breathlessly as Shiro slowed his hips to a stop.

Shiro huffed a small laugh against him, blowing out a long shaky breath and pulling back a little to look at Lance, before gently kissing him. 

“You’re so beautiful.” He murmured.

Lance smiled, kissing him again. “So are you.” He said softly. “Don’t put me down yet, I can’t feel my legs.” He added.

Shiro laughed and nodded, loosening his grip on Lance’s thighs, and Lance swallowed thickly as he saw the faint bruise marks from where Shiro had held him.

“Sorry.” He murmured, gently stroking over them.

“Don’t, it’s hot.” Lance admitted softly and Shiro rolled his eyes affectionately.

“You think everything’s hot.”

“Okay, but that really _is_. And that really _was_ , fuck, babe.”

“Uh, yeah.” Shiro said a little sheepishly, cheeks darkening. 

“Okay, I think- you can put me down.” He said and Shiro carefully lowered him down, Lance stumbling a little as he found his footing. 

“Let me clean you up?” Shiro asked softly and Lance nodded, letting Shiro lather soap over him and clean the cum out of him.

“I’m gonna uh- lie down for a bit.” Lance said softly when they were done and Shiro wrapped a towel around him. “Carry me to bed?”

“Don’t go falling asleep.” Shiro said, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just don’t think I want to attempt walking for like… half an hour at least.” He said and Shiro flushed, biting his lip. 

“I’m sorry.” He said softly, scooping Lance back into his arms and carrying him out into the bedroom, setting him down on the bed. 

“Don’t you dare say sorry, wow.” Lance said with a laugh, curling up on the bed as Shiro draped the blankets over him. “That was really good.”

“If you’re sure.” Shiro said, frowning softly.

“Would you go and take the fort down, baby?” He asked softly, holding onto Shiro’s hand and gently stroking his thumb over his skin.

“Mm, of course.” He said with a nod, leaning down to press a kiss to Lance’s forehead.

“Thank you.” Lance smiled, kissing Shiro’s hand and letting go as Shiro put his clothes on, blowing him a kiss in the doorway which Lance quickly caught in his hand, before going out into the living room.  
Lance blew out a long breath, letting his eyes fall closed. Yeah, he really didn’t feel like moving just yet. Not at all. 

He laid there for probably around forty minutes before Shiro came back in, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Allura’s going to be here soon, my love, you feeling up to getting up?”

Lance hummed and nodded, sitting up. “Yeah.” He said, kneeling up and leaning over to press their lips together. “I love you.” He said softly.

“I love you too, baby.” Shiro smiled, kissing him again. 

Lance smiled, getting up and going over to his dresser and getting his clothes out, dressing himself and then taking Shiro’s hand, kissing him again and leading him out into the living room.

“Hey, baby.” Lance said with a smile, seeing Ella curled up now on the corner of the couch. “Auntie Allura’s coming over in a minute.”

Ella nodded. “Daddy said.”

“You gonna be a good girl and let me help her with her work?” He asked and she nodded. “Daddy’s gonna stay and play with you, though.”

Ella smiled, nodding happily. “Yeah, we’re gonna play more princesses.”

“That sounds fun, beautiful.” Lance smiled, taking Shiro’s hand again and leading him into the kitchen. “You wanna help me make some lunch before she gets here?”

Shiro hummed and nodded, pressing a kiss to Lance’s temple. “I’m gonna miss you.” He murmured softly and Lance leant into him, giving a soft sigh.

Shiro wrapped his arm around him and Lance let himself enjoy the embrace for a few minutes. “Me too.” He said quietly back, tucking his face into Shiro’s neck. 

Shiro kissed his head, pulling back and getting the bread out of the bread bin. “Sandwiches?” He asked and Lance nodded.

“Yeah, what do you want in yours?” He asked with a hum, opening the cupboard.

“I don’t mind.” Shiro said.

Lance got a few different fillings out and they went about making the sandwiches, and the doorbell went not long after that.

Lance went out into the hall, opening the front door and smiling as Allura pulled him into a hug.

“Hey Allura.” He said with a smile.

“Lance, you are an absolute lifesaver.” She said with a sigh, bringing in the bags she’d put down on the doorstep. “Oh. Shiro, hi.” She said, stopping in shock as she saw him.

“Hey Allura.” He said with a smile, letting her pull him into a hug, too. 

Lance lead her through to the dining room, putting her bags down on the chairs and then going to bring the sandwiches in. 

“Ella! Auntie Allura’s here!” He called and Ella came rushing out, throwing her arms around her legs.

“Hi Auntie ‘Lura.” She said with a smile, looking up at her and Allura smiled, stroking her.

“Hi Ella.” She said. “How is my favourite niece doing today?”

“I’m good! Daddy and I are gonna play princesses, do you wanna play too?”

“Ella… What did I say, hm? You and daddy are gonna go and play so that Auntie Allura and I can get what we need to get done.”

Ella pouted and nodded. “I remember.” 

“Go on then, go and get daddy in that dress.” He said with a grin and Shiro glared at him. 

“Thanks.” He said and Lance laughed.

“Absolutely my pleasure, you make a beautiful princess.”

“Not as beautiful as you do.” Shiro said back, raising an eyebrow and took Ella’s hand, nodding in farewell as he lead her down to her room.

Allura looked after them and then to Lance. “That seems friendly.”

Lance blinked at her. “What d’you mean?” It wasn’t that obvious… was it?

Allura shrugged, sitting down at the table and beginning to unpack her things. “You two usually barely say anything to each other.”

Lance shrugged. “I mean, it’s been over a year, Allura. When was the last time you saw us together?”

“Mm, that’s true, I suppose. Just seemed to me like you usually were just tolerating each other.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.” Lance said, folding his arms over his chest.

“I’m just making an observation, Lance.” She said, looking at him for a long moment. “Is there something I should be trying to say?”

Lance blinked at her in what he hoped was a confused way. “What?” He asked, tilting his head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

She shrugged. “Nothing, never mind. Shall we get started?”

They worked for an hour or so before Lance made them stop for lunch, bringing Shiro and Ella’s sandwiches to them and his and Allura’s in, insisting that she at least took ten minutes out.

They continued after that, well into the afternoon, Lance making sure they stopped periodically, limbs and backs aching a little from sitting for so long.

“I’m just gonna go and check on Ella and Shiro.” Lance said, having not heard Ella’s excited squeals for a little while now, going down the hall and pushing the door open, peering around and softening at what he saw.

Shiro was laying on Ella’s bed, flat out, it seemed, Ella curled up against his chest and he was holding her close to him, lips pressed against her head. 

He got out his phone, taking a quick picture and staying for a few moments longer, before backing out and pulling the door to, making his way back to Allura.

“They’re both asleep.” He said with a fond smile on his face and she gave a small laugh.

“Well, children do need afternoon naps, after all.” 

Lance snorted at that. “Indeed they do.”

He and Allura got back to work, finishing a fair few things by the time it was dark and they were feeling hungry. Lance had heard Ella and Shiro’s chatter resume a little while back, signalling that they’d woken up from their nap.

“Do you want to order a pizza, or something?” He asked after a while.

“That sounds exactly what we need.” Allura said with a sigh, running a hand through her hair. 

“Let me go and check what they want and I’ll order it.”

He padded down to Ella’s room, pushing the door open to see them both curled in Ella’s soft toy corner, Shiro leaning against some cushions and larger bears with Ella sitting between his legs as he read to her.

“Hey there.” Lance said with a soft smile, resisting the urge to take another picture. “You guys okay with pizza for dinner?”

Ella nodded excitedly and Shiro smiled, nodding too. “Extra cheese?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Ella said quickly.

“That sounds good.” Shiro said, giving him an affectionate smile and Lance wanted nothing more than to go over there and kiss him.

“Good. Are you guys having fun?”

“Yesssss, daddy’s reading to me.” Ella said, nodding and patting Shiro’s hand.

Lance laughed softly. “I can see that. How was your nap?” He asked, and Shiro flushed.

“It was good.” He said and Lance grinned, making a mental note to set that photo as his wallpaper on his phone.

“Okay, well we won’t do any more after dinner, so I’ll call you both when food gets here.”

“Okay.” Shiro said with a smile and Lance stayed for a moment longer, smiling softly at them both, before going back out and calling the pizza place, giving their order, before going back to Allura.

It thankfully didn’t take too long for the food to arrive and Lance reminded Allura of how much progress they’d made today, and that they still had four more evenings to work before her deadline and she calmed down a little. 

Lance paid for the pizza and took it into the living room, getting some plates from the kitchen and calling Ella and Shiro in.

They all settled down, putting something on the tv while they ate, Lance desperately trying to ignore the subtle glances that Shiro was giving him, lest Allura get suspicious again. 

Allura left first, which Lance was grateful for, and Shiro helped tuck Ella into bed, reading her yet another story, before they both went out into the living room.

“I am exhausted.” Lance said with a soft groan, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes and Shiro wrapped his arms around him.

“You should get to bed, angel.” He said, kissing his forehead and Lance nodded.

“Yeah… I’ll call you tomorrow night?” 

Shiro nodded.

“You could stay again.” He offered quietly. 

Shiro bit his lip, looking at him for a long moment.

“Or not.” He said.

Shiro smiled softly at that, kissing Lance’s forehead and leading him into the bedroom. 

“As if I could ever.” He said as they undressed, falling into bed, pulling Lance firmly against his chest. “As if I could ever leave you after you asked me to stay.” He mumbled, pressing a kiss to the back of Lance’s neck.

“Love you.” Lance said, a sleepy smile on his face as he snuggled down against him.

“I love _you_.” Shiro said back, nuzzling him softly. 

 

***

 

The next morning was rushed, Shiro leaving while Lance was still in bed so he wouldn’t have to explain himself to Ella, Lance whining softly, pulling him back for kiss after kiss after kiss until finally letting him go.

He didn’t get to call him until late that night, Allura staying for quite a while and he was very tired again, falling asleep quickly, still on the line to Shiro.

He had a little more time on Tuesday after Allura left before dinner and he’d had a nice relaxed evening with Ella, bathing her and tucking her into bed, reading her two stories instead of one and then going into the living room.

It was a little over half an hour past Lance settling into bed that he gave in and called Shiro.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He said, upon answering and Lance could hear his smile down the phone.

“Hey.” He said softly back.

“You okay?” He asked and Lance frowned; could he already tell from one word?

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Lance said and Shiro was quiet for a moment.

“Are you _sure_?”

Lance ran a hand over his face. Well, now he felt embarrassed. “Mmhm.”

Shiro laughed softly. “Okay then.”

Lance whined.

“Is there something I can do for you?” He asked teasingly.

Lance gave another whine. “Yeah, there’s definitely something you can do for me.”

Shiro was quiet but Lance knew he was just trying not to laugh. “You wanna tell me what that is, baby?”

Lance sighed. “Don’t make me say it.”

“Baby, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lance really couldn’t tell if he was lying or not.

Lance huffed. “I’m really horny.” He mumbled and Shiro snorted. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Shiro said quickly. “You’re just so cute.”

Lance whined. “How is that cute? What the hell?”

“It just is.” Shiro said and Lance grumbled softly. “Sorry, helping.”

“You’re not exactly setting a sexy mood here, babe.”

“I don’t know, thinking about you lying in bed wanting to touch yourself seems pretty sexy to me.” He said, voice low and Lance let out a breath.

“Yeah?”

“Mmmhm. So tell me, sweetheart, you wearing anything?”

“No.” Lance said, shaking his head.

“You normally do.” Shiro hummed. “You’re just _that_ turned on, huh?”

Lance bit his lip, making a small noise of affirmation. 

“You don’t need to be shy, Lance, you and I both know what a little slut you can be.”

Lance breathed a soft moan at that before he could help himself.

“Poor baby, what’s got you so worked up, hm?”

“I don’t know…” Lance said in a soft whine. 

“Mm, can you put me on speaker, sweetheart?”

“What about Ella?”

“Just put it on a low volume. She’s asleep, right?”

“Yeah.” Lance said, doing as Shiro said and putting him on speaker, putting the phone on the pillow next to him after turning the volume down a little.

“Mm, okay, you got both your hands now?”

“Mhm.” Lance said, biting his lip.

“I don’t want you to touch yourself yet, okay? I want you to get nice and hard and desperate first. Does that sound okay?”

“Uh huh.” Lance nodded quickly, swallowing.

“Pull the covers off, I want you to look at yourself for me.”

Lance pulled the covers off of his body, shivering a little. “S cold.”

“Don’t worry, baby, you’ll warm up soon enough.” Shiro assured him softly. “Okay, I just want light touches for now, okay? On your chest?”

Lance brought his fingers up to his chest, gently tracing them over his skin and wetting his lip.

“And your nipples, baby? You gonna play with them for me?” 

“Uh huh.” Lance nodded, thumbing over them and feeling them pebble under his touch, gently pinching the buds and giving a soft gasp. 

“Feel good?” Shiro asked and Lance could picture his smirk. 

“Mmmhm.” Lance moaned softly, gently tugging at his nipples and giving a soft whine.

“God, I wish I was there with you.” Shiro said softly as Lance gave another soft gasp, flicking his finger nail over the bud and making a soft mewling noise.

“M-me too.” Lance moaned softly, biting down on his lip, hips rocking up against the air instinctively, looking for some sort of friction. 

“You sound so good, baby.” Shiro said and Lance heard him unzip his zipper.

“You gonna touch yourself?” Lance asked softly, pinching again and whining.

“Mmmhm.” Shiro hummed back.

“C-can I?” 

Shiro made a noise of deliberation. “Not yet, baby. I’ll tell you what. Can you get the pillow from the other side of the bed?” 

Lance made a sound of affirmation, picking up the pillow - _Shiro’s pillow_.

“Good boy. Now, I want you to kneel up on the bed for me, okay? And I want you to put the pillow between your legs.”

Lance breathed a soft moan, doing as he was asked and sitting up, pillow wedged between his legs. “Uh huh?”

“And I want you to grind on it for me. I want you to ride it, can you do that for me, baby?”

“Y-yeah.” Lance moaned, rocking his hips and breathing a soft moan at the slight friction against his cock.

“Does that feel okay?”

“Mmm, feels good.” He said, rolling his hips at a steady pace, rutting his cock against the fabric and making soft whimpering noises.

“Wish I could see you, baby.” Shiro moaned softly and Lance half wished he’d put headphones in instead so he could hear Shiro’s moans right against his ears rather than the soft speaker phone on his own pillow.

“Want you…” Lance moaned softly, picking up the pace and humping against the pillow a little more forcefully. 

“I know, baby, I want you too.” Shiro groaned. “Wanna stretch you out for me and fuck you nice and slow until you’re begging.”

“Oh god…” Lance moaned, biting his lip. “Please, Takashi, want that…”

“Yeah? You wanna stretch yourself out for me, baby? Fuck yourself on your fingers?”

“Yes, yes, fuck, please, I want to.”

“Mmm, can you hold on a little for me, first? I want you to keep humping that pillow for a bit.”

Lance gave a soft whine. “Takashi…”

“You want to be good for me, don’t you, Lance?”

Lance moaned softly, nodding, even though Shiro couldn’t see him. “Y-yes, I want to be good.”

“Then keep grinding on the pillow for me, baby.” Shiro instructed.

“Okay, okay.” Lance said quickly, rocking his hips, pushing his cock over the fabric and whining. It felt good, but it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t what he wanted.

“Come on, baby, I promise I’ll let you have what you want, hm?”

“Uh huh.” Lance moaned, whining softly as a little precum beaded at the tip of his cock and seeped onto the pillow case. “Y-you’re gonna need a new pillow case.” He moaned quietly.

Shiro gave a low chuckle. “Are you making a mess, baby?” He asked lowly.

“Little bit.” Lance admitted.

“You always make such a mess, baby, your pretty cock’s always so eager, always dripping for me.”

“T-Takashi…” Lance whimpered, throwing his head back as he fucked his cock over the pillow faster. “Please…”

“Please what?”

“I wanna touch myself. Wanna fuck myself.”

Shiro hummed. “Okay, baby. Lay back down for me and get the lube out.”

Lance gave a small sigh of relief, getting the lube out of his drawer and laying back down on the bed, moving Shiro’s pillow and spreading his legs.

“And don’t touch your cock.” Shiro reminded him and Lance pouted, making a small noise of complaint, but kept his hands away, no matter how much he wanted to.

“O-okay, I got it.” Lance said, uncapping the lube and spreading it onto his fingers.

“Start with one finger for me, okay? Keep it nice and slow.”

Lance slipped one finger into himself, carefully pushing in and breathing out a soft moan, rocking his hips a little, aching to reach down with his other hand and touch himself, knowing that Shiro would have no way of knowing if he did or not… But he restrained; he wanted to be good and do as he was told.

“That’s it, baby, just like that.” Shiro praised as Lance gently thrust into himself, keeping the pace slow as Shiro had said.

“Can I put in another?” Lance asked, giving a small whine at how empty he still felt.

Shiro made a non committal noise as he thought about it. “Okay, baby, but keep it nice and slow, and I don’t want you going anywhere near your prostate yet.”

Lance pouted at that, but eased a second finger into himself, gasping a soft groan as he sunk it in all the way next to the first.

“Feel better?” Shiro asked, voice low.

“M-Mmmhm. Feels good.” Lance moaned, nodding as he thrust his fingers into himself easily, body having become more accustomed to the regular sex he was having.

“You want more though, don’t you?” Shiro asked, voice a quiet taunt.

Lance bit his lip and nodded, still slowly fucking himself on his fingers. “Yes, I want more.” He breathed. “I want your cock.”

Shiro groaned softly. “Put in another, baby, get yourself ready for me, yeah? Stretch yourself out nicely.”

Lance whimpered as he slid in another finger, moaning softly at the stretch and thrusting them into himself quickly before remembering to slow the pace down.

“P-please… please let me…” Lance whined breathlessly.

“Hm? Let you what?” Shiro asked, though Lance knew he knew exactly what.

“Please. Please, Takashi, _please_ , I want it.”

“Mm, go on then, baby, just the once.” Shiro said.

Lance cried out softly as he hooked his fingers into his prostate, rubbing them over it for a moment and giving a long drawn out whimper before pulling them back out, just as Shiro had said, thrusting them back into himself, but being careful to avoid it.

“Good boy, Lance.” Shiro praised in a soft groan. “You have a toy there?”

Lance moaned softly at the thought of getting to use something more than his fingers. “Y-yeah, I do.”

“You wanna go and get it?” Shiro asked and Lance pulled his fingers from himself, getting off of the bed and shakily kneeling down, opening one of the under bed drawers and getting one of his dildos out, getting back onto the bed.

“Got it.” He said and Shiro hummed.

“Mm, what’s it like?”

“Not as big as you are.” He said, biting his lip and Shiro huffed a laugh.

“Good, I need to serve some purpose.” He teased and Lance gave a shaky laugh back.

“Can I use it?” He asked.

“No, baby, I asked you to get it out so that you could look at it.” Shiro said and Lance whined.

“Don’t be mean.” 

“Mm, sorry, baby. Yeah, I want you to get it nice and wet with your mouth, okay? I know how much you love sucking cock, how hard it gets you.”

Lance moaned, laying back down and bringing the toy to his lips, parting them and slipping it carefully into his mouth, sinking it in as much as he could comfortably take.

“Are you on your back again, baby?” Shiro asked and Lance made a noise of affirmation. “Like when I sit on your chest and you suck me off?”

Lance moaned softly at that. “Uh huh.” He said, pulling the toy out and slipping it back into his mouth. God, he wanted to suck Shiro off. 

“Are you making a mess, sweetheart?” Shiro asked and Lance whined softly, pulling the toy out of his mouth and glancing down to where his cock was laying against his thigh, drooling a little.

“Y-yeah.” He said, a little breathless, voice slightly raspy.

“Mm, you wanna fuck yourself for me now, baby?” He asked and Lance whined.

“Yes, please, please.” He begged softly, picking the lube back up and uncapping it.

“Okay, angel. I want you to sit up and ride it for me, yeah?”

Lance nodded, scrambling to get up and slicking the toy, positioning himself over it and beginning to slowly sink down onto it.

“Oh fuck…” He groaned softly and Shiro gave a soft groan in response.

“Feel good?” 

“S-so good.” He moaned, nodding and sinking down further, rocking his hips a little and whining. “N-not as good as you though…” 

Shiro huffed a small laugh. “Just enjoy it, baby. You’ll have me again soon.” Shiro promised. “I want you to fuck yourself on it for me, yeah? Don’t touch your cock yet.”

Lance bit his lip, nodding and lifting up and sinking back down, groaning softly.

“God…” He breathed, circling his hips and rocking them a little, gasping harshly as the toy knocked into his prostate.

Shiro made a small amused noise at that. “There, baby?”

“Yes, yes, yes, there.” Lance gasped, rolling his hips again, repeating the motion and giving a soft whimper.

“Fuck, you sound so good.” Shiro groaned and Lance moaned again.

“Please, please, let me touch myself…” He begged softly.

“Not yet.” Shiro said softly. “Hold on for me, baby.”

Lance bit his lip, nodding. “O-okay.”

“There’s a good boy.” Shiro praised softly, breathing heavily into the phone.

Lance whined, bouncing on the toy quickly, cock hitting against his leg with each thrust and he whimpered, trying hard to hit the toy into his prostate with each thrust.

“T-Takashi… P-please…” He asked after another minute or so, lip swollen from biting, little mewls and whimpers falling from his lips as his cock leaked a steady stream onto the bed. “I need- I need, please-”

“What do you need, angel?”

“I need to _cum_.” He whined. “I need to touch myself, please, baby…”

Shiro made another soft noise of deliberation. “Okay, baby, touch that pretty cock for me, I wanna hear you cum.”

Lance gave a relieved sigh, reaching down to wrap his hand around his cock and groaning, pumping it quickly, still quickly bouncing on the toy.

It was only a few moments before Lance came, gasping harshly, hand working quickly over his cock, trying to direct his cum onto his thigh, rather than the bed.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck-” He moaned, working himself through it, before slowing his hips to a stop.

“Fuck, baby…” Shiro groaned, panting clearly close to the microphone. “Baby, I’m-”

“Cum baby, please, I want you to cum for me.” Lance moaned breathlessly and Shiro groaned.

“ _Fuck_.” He cursed.

Lance eased himself off of the toy, blowing out a long breath.

“Thanks baby.” He said softly and Shiro huffed a laugh.

“You’re extremely welcome.” He said.

Lance stood up, putting the lube back in the drawer and taking the toy into the bathroom.

“We haven’t done that in a while.” Lance said with a soft laugh.

“God, we haven’t.” Shiro said, laughing with him. “Back in the days of our youth.”

Lance snorted. “Oh, sure.”

“I’m being serious!” Shiro laughed. “We have not had such a good sex life in _years_ , we’re doing well.”

“Actually, that’s very true.” Lance said, cleaning the toy, humming softly. “Then again, _you_ haven’t had _any_ sex life for a whole year.”

Shiro grumbled softly. “I know, don’t remind me. It’s not my fault I don’t want to have sex with anyone that isn’t you.”

Lance flitted his eyes to the phone at that. “Yeah, well.”

“I didn’t, um, mean it like that.”

“Right.”

“Lance… I didn’t. It’s none of my business who you slept with.”

“It bothers you, though.” He said with a soft sigh, putting the toy away and coming back into the bathroom, putting the plug in the bath and turning on the water.

Shiro sighed. “I mean… yeah. I’m not going to lie. It bothers me. But like I said, it’s none of my business. We weren’t together, you were free to do whatever you wanted with whoever you wanted.”

Lance didn’t say anything for a few moments. “Do you think I’m a slut, Shiro?”

“No.” Shiro said after a moment.

Lance huffed a small laugh. “Yeah, okay.” 

“I don’t.”

“You hesitated.”

“Lance… why are you doing this?”

“Look, it’s whatever, okay? You were busy and you didn’t want to sleep with anyone. I was less busy and I slept around. I did. A lot. Because I am a slut.”

“Lance, sweetheart.” Shiro said, sounding tired. “You’re not a slut.”

Lance ran a hand through his hair, sitting on the edge of the bath.

“Self medicating with sex is not the same as being a slut. And even if you were a slut, then I’m not about to slut shame you.”

Lance sighed. “Okay.” He said softly. 

“And I’m in no position to judge you. I definitely self medicated with alcohol.”

Lance huffed a small laugh. “Yeah, I had Ella staying with our friends at least a night a week for a while there.”

“So tell me what you’re feeling.” He said softly. “”Why did you just try and start that fight?” 

“I don’t know.” Lance said softly. “I just… I feel like half the time I want you to be angry with me. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m just ashamed of myself. Or…”

“Or?”

“I don’t know, maybe I feel like I need to prove to you how much I hurt. Because you didn’t think I did that much? I don’t know. Like I need to prove to you that I had it just as bad as you. Like, hey, I made all these shitty decisions and things were really crap because I had a literal mental break down, so. I don’t know.”

“Lance.” Shiro said softly. “I’m sorry that I said I thought that. It was just… easier for me, you know? I thought that if I could tell myself that that was what you wanted, that that was what was best for you and Ella, that it was my fault and I fucked it up, and I was the one that got hurt, then… I wouldn’t be calling you drunk at three am and begging you to take me back, because trust me, I came close _so many times_.”

Lance sighed softly, switching off the tap and putting the phone closer to the bath, before getting into it.

“I don’t know, Takashi… I still don’t even know how to comprehend that you felt like that. Because, honestly? I also felt like you weren’t affected that much. I thought that you were sick of me, and that work was more important, and when I asked you to leave you just… did. You didn’t… fight for us. You didn’t try and figure out how to make it work, you just left. And I know you’ve explained, but I didn’t _know_ that. You should have talked to me.”

“I know. I didn’t… feel like I could, all we did was fight. I thought it would be better for you and Ella if I left and you wouldn’t have to deal with that anymore. I fucked up, I know that.”

Lance sighed heavily. “We should probably stop talking about this, right now.”

“Why? It’s good to talk through things, isn’t it?”

Lance bit his lip. “Yeah. But I really could do with a glass of wine right now, and I don’t want to say something I don’t mean.”

“Lance. Go and get a glass of wine and come back.”

“I’m in the bath.”

“You have towels.”

Lance sighed. “Yeah, okay.” He said, getting up and wrapping a towel around himself and going into the kitchen, pouring himself a large glass and coming back into the bathroom, slipping back into the bath.

“Okay, so talk.”

“I don’t know what to say, because I keep telling you that it’s my fault too. And it _is_. It is both of our faults equally, but also sometimes I just feel like telling you that you know what? Yeah. You _did_ fuck up. You threw this away and you did this and this is your fault. And I haven’t forgive you for that. I haven’t forgiven you for what you did to me.”

“That’s fair.” Shiro said softly after a few moments.

“But... “ He sniffed. “I don’t know, okay? How can we move on from this if we keep talking about it? I don’t want to think about it anymore. I don’t want to be angry with you, and I don’t want to be hurt and defensive and I certainly don’t want to have to think about my mental break down or feel like I need to prove myself to you.”

“Okay.” He said. “We don’t have to talk about it anymore. I think we’ve said everything. We know where we both stand, we know how we both felt, and how we both feel. And so let’s move on now, yeah? Start on the rest of our lives.”

“Yeah.” Lance said softly, biting his lip. “Okay. Enough.”

“This isn’t exactly the pillow talk I was hoping for.” He said and Lance laughed softly.

“We can start now. Get in the bath with me.”

“Get in the bath with you?”

“Yeah. Get yourself a glass of wine and run yourself a bath.”

“Okay.” Shiro said ad Lance could hear the smile in his voice, and then some rustling on the other end of the phone as Shiro got up.

He heard the taps running on the other end of the line a few moments later.

“So Christmas is in a few weeks.” Lance said softly with a hum, hearing the water sloshing as Shiro got into the bath.

“Mmm, don’t.” He said with a soft laugh.

Lance laughed with him. “No, I was just going to say that we should probably tell everyone then. I don’t want to pretend if we’re all staying together for a few days.”

“Mmm, okay.” Shiro hummed.

“And they’re definitely going to give us a talk about behaving after what happened last year.”

Shiro groaned softly. “God, don’t even remind me.”

“In our defence though, it had only been about two months. We were bound to fight, we were staying in the same house for a few days.”

“That’s true. But they can’t be too apprehensive, because even if this hadn’t happened, we were still on good terms by now.”

“Mm, you’re right.” Lance agreed. 

“I miss you.” Shiro said after a few moments of silence.

Lance smiled softly. “I miss you, too.”

“I always miss you.” Shiro said.

“You’re sweet.” Lance said softly back.

“It’s just the truth.” 

“How about the new year?” Lance asked, biting his lip.

“New year for what?”

“You moving back in.”

“Oh.” Shiro said softly. “You think?”

“Unless you don’t…?”

“No, I want to, I do, I just… don’t want to push, you know?”

“You’re not pushing, I miss you like crazy when you’re not here.” Lance said softly. “We’ll figure it out, okay? No matter what.”

“Yeah.” Shiro said and Lance knew he was smiling. 

“I love you, Takashi.”

“I know, baby. I love you, too.” Shiro said gently back.

“I wish you were here.”

Shiro gave a soft sigh. “Me too. Soon though, yeah?”

“Yeah. Soon. You ready to get out the bath yet?”

“We just got in.” Shiro said with a soft laugh.

“I know, but I’m tired.” Lance said in a soft whine.

“We can get out, my love. You ready for bed?”

“Mmhm.” He nodded, getting up and out of the bath and pulling out the plug, wrapping a towel around himself and taking the phone back into the bedroom. “Did you finish your drink?”

“Mm, nearly. You?”

“Yeah.” Lance said with a soft laugh, putting the phone down on the bedside table and pulling the outer cover off of Shiro’s pillow, slipping into bed and hugging it to his chest.

“You in bed?” Shiro asked and Lance heard him getting out of the bath and draining the water.

“Mhm.” Lance nodded, giving a soft sigh as he snuggled down.

“Mm, I wish I was in bed with you.” Shiro said softly as Lance heard the rustle of his covers.

“Me too.” Lance said softly, giving a small huff. “Don’t say things that make me miss you more.”

“Sorry, baby.” Shiro said with a soft laugh.

“When are you coming over again?” Lance asked in a soft whine.

“If anyone finds out how often I’m coming over, they’re going to be incredibly suspicious, my love.”

“They don’t need to know.” Lance said softly. “And I don’t care about what they think, anyway.”

“Then why aren’t we telling them already?” Shiro asked in a soft tease.

“Because of Ella.” Lance said softly. “And… because I don’t want to have to explain myself to them. It’s not like they’re gonna think its a bad idea, I just… Don’t feel like explaining.”

“That’s fair.” Shiro said with a hum. “It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah. Let’s aim for Christmas and we’ll see what happens.” He said through a yawn.

“Mm, sounds good. You wanna go to sleep, sweetheart?”

Lance gave a soft sigh. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay, angel. Sleep well.”

“You too, baby.” Lance said softly, yawning again. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Shiro said back, lingering for a few minutes before ending the call and it didn’t take long for Lance to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this,,, was a long chapter ??? also dont ask me what allura does bc i ? dont ? know ? something with fashion probably but i dont knOW 
> 
> also its my bIRTHDAY YIKES
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated !!!!


	10. Chapter 10

Friday didn’t come as quickly as Lance would have liked, but it came around eventually, the day dragging and Lance packing Ella’s things as he waited for Pidge to come and collect her, before throwing himself in the shower and getting ready.

He spent a while putting various creams on his skin, singing softly to himself, and then spent another little while choosing his outfit, before he got a text from Shiro.

_I’m running a little late, got held up at work, but I’ll be there asap. Love you._

Lance’s heart sank as he read that, looking at it for a good few minutes before actually figuring out what to reply with.

_Ok, see you then._

It was stupid really, the absolute panic that that had sent through him. He swallowed thickly, curling up on the corner of the couch and resting his chin between his knees, wrapping his arms around his legs.

Things’ll be different, he’d said. Things’ll be different, they’ll be better. We’ll figure it out.

How were they figuring it out? What were they doing? They’d decided now not to talk too much about it more, which honestly Lance was grateful for, but other than that…? Things were the same, weren’t they?

Yes, they loved each other. Yes, they wanted things to work out, but… Was Lance just setting himself up for heartbreak all over again? In what world was this not going to go the exact same way that it had before?

Lance asked Shiro to leave because he couldn’t handle his work schedule and how that had impacted on everyone. 

Shiro was working just as much and if not _more_ now than he had been then… Things were okay now because Shiro didn’t live here anymore. Once Shiro moved back in maybe he’d make more of an effort to begin with, to prove to Lance that he meant everything he had said but no one could keep up a pretense like that forever.

Shiro wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever. Wouldn’t want to, even. If he hadn’t been able to beforehand, when Lance was his _husband_ , not his weird ex-husband-boyfriend mix that he was now… If he hadn’t been able to do it for his husband then, then… why was Lance fooling himself into thinking that he’d be able to do it now?

Why would he even want to? Keeping on continuously making an effort for something was a lot of work and it was tiring and Lance wasn’t going to pretend he thought he was worth it. If he hadn’t been worth it before then he wasn’t going to be worth it now.

If Shiro… thought things had changed then he was just fooling himself. If Lance hadn’t been worth it before he wasn’t going to be worth it now and that was _just_ the way it was.

Shiro might think he wanted this, but… Once he moved back in and realised that things hadn’t changed… What he was going to have to do to make sure that things did… It wasn’t going to be worth it.

Except it would be too late then, because they’d have told everyone, and Ella… They’d have told Ella and so Shiro would try to stay for her sake, but things would be just as bad as before and they’d be shouting at each other every other night and Lance- god. Lance really was just setting himself up for heartbreak here.

It took Lance probably around fifteen minutes to collect himself, having started crying half way through that thought process, clutching his legs to his chest tighter as he tried to curl in on himself.

He blew out a long shaky breath, standing up and going into the bathroom, splashing his face with cold water.

He groaned softly, going into his room and flopping down onto the bed. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to do, now. He wasn’t going to break it off with Shiro, that just- no. That wasn’t an option. He didn’t _want_ to, god he didn’t want to, no matter how bad things might get, Lance had to at least _know_ that they’d tried again.

He lay there for another fifteen minutes or so before getting up and going back into the bathroom, making sure that he was still as ready as he had been before, and then going out into the living room to put the tv on as he waited for Shiro.

It didn’t take Shiro too long to arrive after that, but he was already around forty minutes later than he had said he was going to be, so the lingering anxiety still hadn’t quite left him, though he felt considerably calmer now.

He jumped as the doorbell rang, standing up and going to the door, opening it. Shiro gave him an apprehensive smile, handing him a bouquet of flowers and kissing his cheek.

“I’m really sorry.” He said softly, biting his lip, brows furrowed and Lance softened a little bit; he looked really stressed. “There was nothing I could do- I’m just- I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, my love.” Lance said softly, wrapping his arms around him and kissing his jaw. 

“It’s not.”

“It is.” Lance insisted. “Everyone gets held up at work, baby.” He said softly. “I think this is just bad timing, yeah? As long as this isn’t… something that happens all the time, then it’s okay.”

Shiro quickly shook his head. “It’s not, I promise.”

“Okay.”

Shiro looked at him apprehensively. “You’re really not upset?”

“I mean, I was.” He said, taking Shiro’s hand and leading him into the kitchen so he could put the flowers in some water. “I was… panicking, I guess. But like I said, it’s bad timing. And I’m trusting that, okay?”

Shiro nodded, looking relieved and resting his forehead against Lance’s and Lance pressed their lips together.

“I love you.” Shiro murmured softly against his lips, gently cupping his face and stroking his thumbs over his cheeks.

“I know.” Lance said with a soft smile.

“You promise?” He asked, voice small.

“I promise.” Lance said softly, gently placing his hands over Shiro’s where they rested on either side of his face, turning his head to press a soft kiss to his palm. 

“Did you ever…?” Shiro asked, cutting himself off with a small frown.

“Did I ever what, my love?” Lance asked gently and Shiro shook his head. “Are you sure?”

Shiro bit his lip. “Did you ever think that I didn’t love you?”

Lance gave a small intake of breath at that, brows pinching into a small frown, taking a few moments to form an answer in his head, before he spoke. “Sometimes, yeah. But it was never… a serious, thought. I never really _believed_ that you didn’t love me. I just thought that you loved me less than you did before. That you still loved me, but it wasn’t enough anymore.”

Shiro bit his lip, swallowing thickly and nodding.

“Why, my angel?” He asked softly, gently looping his arms around Shiro’s neck and holding him close.

“I just… worry. I don’t know. I just worry.”

“Angel, listen to me.” Lance said softly, gently cupping the back of Shiro’s head. “I know that you love me. I know that you never stopped loving me and I know that things were hard for you and you felt helpless to fix things, not that you just gave up because you didn’t love me enough, okay? I know that. And I know that you didn’t have a choice today, and that you’ve been panicking all evening because you didn’t want to upset me, and I love you for that. You don’t need to worry, my darling, I _know_. I’m not worried.”

Shiro gave a small shaky breath, burying his face into the crook of Lance’s neck, giving a small nod, and Lance held him close.

“And I hope _you_ know how much I love you.”

“Do.” Shiro mumbled, nodding against his neck, holding him tighter.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Lance soothed softly, kissing the side of his head. “We’re gonna be just fine, yeah?”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Lance agreed. “I swear.”

Shiro sniffed and nodded, pulling back and blowing out a long breath. 

Lance smiled softly, gently swiping his thumbs under Shiro’s eyes and cupping his face, leaning up to press a gentle kiss to his lips. 

“We’re gonna be okay. We’ll get through it, whatever it is, whatever might happen, we’ll get through it this time, yeah? No more not talking to each other and letting things get bad.”

Shiro nodded, pressing a kiss to the pad of Lance’s thumb as he stroked his cheek. 

“We can stay in tonight if you want, sweet pea.”

Shiro sniffed and shook his head. “No, let’s go ice skating.” He said with a soft smile and Lance smiled back.

“You sure? We can always go another time, I don’t mind. The rink isn’t going anywhere for at least another month or so.”

“I want to.”

Lance gave a soft laugh. “You didn’t seem to want to when I brought it up.” He said, raising an eyebrow.

“Well… no. But you want to go, and I want to do what you want to do, because that makes me happy.”

“You’re sweet.” Lance smiled, gently taking Shiro’s hands in his own and pressing a kiss over his knuckles. “You’re sure you want to go tonight?”

Shiro nodded. “If you are.”

Lance smiled softly and wrapped his arms around Shiro, kissing him. “Let’s go then, darling.”

Shiro chased his lips, pressing a few more kisses to them, before pulling back with a soft contented sigh, keeping their fingers laced as they left the house and locked up, getting into the car.

Shiro kept holding Lance’s hand for as long as he could, only using one hand on the wheel, before Lance eventually let go, pressing a kiss to his fingers and gently placing it on the wheel.

“You can hold my hand all you want when we get there.” He smiled. “God knows you’ll need to.” He laughed.

Shiro pouted. “Don’t make fun of me, you’re not any better.”

“I am a little bit.” He said with a giggle.

“Oh, because it makes such a difference when you fall over once every minute instead of once every thirty seconds.” Shiro snorted.

“Hey!” Lance laughed. “That’s not true! As long as we hold onto the edge we’ll be fine. This is ultimate date material.”

“Yeah, when you’re fifteen maybe, not when you’ve been married for five years.”

“Okay, if we’re getting technical, we’ve been married for four years, because this last year doesn’t count.”

“Four years then. But we’ve been together eight- seven.”

“Ice skating can be enjoyed whenever, Takashi.” Lance said, sighing softly, biting his lip.

Shiro glanced at him, and then back at the road. “You okay?” 

“What?” Lance asked. “Yeah. Yeah.” He said with another soft sigh.

“Are you sure?”

“It just- I don’t know, when you say it like that. Eight years. I don’t know, this past year has been really- weird, I mean I was twenty when we met.” He bit his lip, giving a small shrug. “I mean, I know how things went, obviously, but thinking back on it now, it just seems so stupid. We should have just talked to each other. Made the effort to talk without fighting and maybe things would have gotten better…”

Shiro sighed. “Yeah. We should have, but… We didn’t.”

“No. We didn’t. I just… I don’t know, it’s been a year- a _year_. I don’t know, I mean… If we hadn’t slept together that time, would we have ever gotten back together? If… we had have just kept things the way they were, the way they’d been all year, then… you’d still be my ex husband.”

Shiro frowned, biting his lip. “I don’t know.” He said softly. “I don’t know what might have happened, but this did, okay? We did sleep together, we did remember what it was like to be in love with each other, and we did work things out. And that’s what matters. I don’t want to think about being without you.”

“Yeah, okay.” Lance said softly, nodding. “Sorry, I know I bring it up a lot.”

“It’s okay, baby.” Shiro said, glancing at him. “It’s only natural, I mean- it was kind of a big deal. And we’ve only been back together a few weeks now, so… it’s bound to come up. I’ve honestly just been surprised at our communication skills.”

Lance laughed at that. “I know, me too. If only we’d found those earlier, huh.”

Shiro laughed with him. “Indeed. But we have them now, and that’s what matters.” 

Lance nodded, smiling. “That’s what matters.” 

Shiro reached for his hand again, taking it and kissing his fingers, holding onto it for a little while and Lance smiled softly, gently stroking his thumb over Shiro’s skin.

“Mm, let’s talk about something more fun, hey? Christmas is soon.” Lance said with a hum.

“That’s equally as stressful as it is fun.”

Lance laughed softly. “Mm, okay… how about your birthday then? That’s only two months after.”

Shiro huffed. “Birthday’s stopped being fun when I hit thirty.”

Lance snorted. “What d’you mean hit _thirty_? You were _eight_ last time I checked.”

Shiro huffed, glaring at him. “I am not _eight_ , I’m nearly thirty fucking two, and I don’t like it.”

“Aww, baby.” Lance cooed, rolling his eyes affectionately. 

“More exciting is Ella’s going to be five next year. Is that exciting, actually? Could be scary.”

“Mm, I think it’s both.” Lance said with a deliberative hum. 

“I think I’m _more_ scared than excited.”

“I think I am, too.” Lance agreed.

“Well, at least we’ve got six months or so before then.” Shiro said, pulling into the parking lot.

“Only four.”

Shiro made a small noise of discontentment, looking for a parking space and pulling into it.

“You ready to get some bruises?” Lance asked and Shiro huffed.

“I can think of some better ways to get bruises.” He muttered under his breath and Lance snorted.

“Babe, if you want me to spank you, you only have to ask.” He teased and Shiro rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself and turning the engine off and getting out.

Lance giggled, getting out and holding onto his hand, leading him inside.

They paid for their time and went about putting their skates on, before shakily moving onto the rink, Shiro holding tightly onto Lance’s hand and blushing furiously when Lance commented on how cute it was.

“Come on, baby, just hold onto the rail.” He said, guiding him to it and Shiro clutched at it with his free hand.

“I don’t like this.” He whined and Lance cooed at him.

“You’re so cute, you’ll get the hang of it.” He said, keeping ahold of his hand as they began to slowly move around the edge of the rink together.

“I’m absolutely not and I absolutely won’t.” Shiro huffed, holding onto Lance tightly as he shakily skated around. “I don’t know why you think this is fun.”

“It is fun!” Lance laughed, letting go of the rail and only using Shiro as support as he managed to skate around, though a little shakily.

“How did you get better since last time?” Shiro pouted. “It’s not fair.”

“Mm, me and Allura went last year and she taught me allllll her ways.” 

“That’s not fair, why didn’t she bring her own husband?” Shiro said, pouting harder.

“Mm, because Keith’s no fun, he’s like you.” Lance said with a snort. 

“Hey! I am so too fun!”

“Mmmmmhm, okay babe.” Lance giggled, moving closer to him and kissing his cheek. 

“I am.” Shiro whined. 

“I’m only teasing you, darling.” He laughed. “Now come on, you can let go. I believe in you.”

“Lance, I really can’t.” 

“Yes you can.” Lance said. “Come on, you can hold onto me with both hands, and I’ll go backwards.”

Shiro whined softly, clearly having to work himself up to it, biting down hard on his lip, a face of pure concentration as he let go and quickly grabbed onto Lance’s wrist with his other hand, shakily trying to steady himself.

“You can do it, babe.” Lance said with a smile, biting his lip as he watched him. He was really fucking cute.

“I can’t.” Shiro whined, shaking his head quickly.

“No, you are, you’re doing it.” Lance said as they moved slowly over the ice, Lance really hoping that he wasn’t going to bash into anyone and knock them over now that he was going backwards.

“I’m doing it?” Shiro asked, brows furrowed, looking down at his feet, stood completely still as Lance moved them over the ice.

“You’re doing it, baby.” Lance nodded, even though he was doing most of the work.

“Oh.” He said, biting his lip and glancing up at Lance quickly, before refocusing his eyes onto his feet.

“You gonna try and move those feet for me?” Lance asked. “Just watch me, yeah? One in front of the other.” He said.

Lance watched Shiro’s eyes flick to his feet where he was gliding them over the ice one at a time, brow furrowing harder before shaking his head quickly.

“Baby, I’m not gonna let you fall.” Lance said softly, and Shiro looked up at him worriedly. “I promise.”

Shiro bit his lip, tentatively sliding one foot forward, making a small whining noise as he slid forward shakily, holding onto Lance’s hands tighter. 

“That’s it, just like that.” Lance encouraged and Shiro steeled himself, doing the same with his other foot, shakily sliding it in front of his other, sliding closer to Lance.

“I’m gonna fall.” He mumbled.

“You’re not gonna fall. If you fall I’m going down with you, babe.” He said and Shiro whined.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better!” 

“Come on, you’re doing great.” 

“You promise?” 

“I promise. Come on, let me switch sides, I’m gonna knock someone over like this.” He said, letting go of one of his hands and sliding over next to him, keeping their fingers laced and leaning up to kiss his cheek.

Shiro blew out a breath, letting Lance mostly lead him, but managing to stay away from the rail. 

They continued like that for a little while, and Shiro had been doing so well, but he stumbled, making a scared little whining noise in the back of his throat as he gripped quickly onto the rail, squeezing Lance’s hand tightly.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you, baby.” Lance said, gently stroking his thumb over Shiro’s hand, coming to a stop next to him and wrapping an arm around his waist. “You okay?”

Shiro gave a small nod. “Sorry I’m being such a baby, christ.”

Lance smiled softly, gently cupping his face with his free hand. “You’re not being a baby, you just need to practice some more, and you’ve done really well. We can stop for now if you want, my love.”

“Our time’s not up, though.” Shiro said, frowning.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” 

Shiro made a small noise of deliberation. “Can I just watch you for a little bit?”

“Are you sure?” Lance asked softly, gently stroking his cheek.

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, I wanna watch you, baby.”

“Okay, my love.” Lance said. “You wanna go and sit on the benches for a few minutes?”

Shiro nodded and Lance took both of his hands, leading him to the exit of the rink, leaning over the rail for another kiss once Shiro had successfully removed his skates.

Lance hummed, smiling as Shiro went to sit down, before pushing off, gliding over the ice, really hoping that he wasn’t going to fall, because as much as Allura had taught him well, he was very out of practice.

He did a few laps, not straying too far from the rail, just in case, before becoming a little more adventurous, gliding into more of the middle of the rink, swirling more in a few smooth patterns over the ice than just in a lap.

He skated like this for a little while longer, before narrowly missing a head on collision with another skater, skating back over to the edge and making his way to the exit, taking his skates off and giving them back, slipping back into his shoes and going to sit by Shiro.

Shiro smiled, wrapping his arm around Lance and kissing his temple. “You looked really pretty.” He said softly and Lance smiled.

“You think?”

“Yeah, I could’ve watched you for hours.”

“That’s sweet, baby.” Lance said, kissing his cheek.

“I love you.” Shiro said softly, turning his face to catch his lips.

“I love _you_.” Lance said, chasing his lips when Shiro pulled back and kissing him again. “You wanna get some hot chocolate before we go home?”

Shiro perked up, nodding. “That sounds good.” 

“Come on, then.” Lance said, standing up and taking Shiro’s hand.

Shiro hummed, dropping it and taking his other, using his closest arm to wrap around Lance’s shoulders, their free hands joined across their bodies in front of them.

“You’re gay.” Lance teased, kissing his cheek.

“Most definitely.” Shiro grinned with a laugh, leading him over to the cafe area and ordering them both a hot chocolate.

It wasn’t too full and they picked a booth in the corner, slipping in next to one another, Lance leaning into Shiro’s side as they drank their hot chocolates.

“Did you at least have a little bit of fun?” Lance asked with a small smile.

“I had a lot of fun, despite the crippling fear of imminent death.” Shiro said with a small laugh.

Lance laughed with him, kissing his jaw. “You would not have _died_ , Takashi.”

“It was a possibility. But I had fun.” He said, catching Lance’s lips.

“I’m glad.” Lance said with a soft smile. “So you’d wanna come back?”

“Well, I wouldn’t go as far as to say thaaaat…”

Lance pouted and Shiro kissed him.

“Yes, we can come back.” He said against his lips and Lance gave a soft giggle.

“Are you ready to go home?” He asked with a hum and Shiro nodded, finishing the last few sips of his drink and Lance did the same.

“Mm, we have the house to ourselves, I think it’s _my turn_.” He murmured.

“Your turn for what?” Lance asked, cheeks heating a little as he bit his lip.

“To make you moan for me.” Shiro murmured, lips pressing against the shell of Lance’s ear and Lance shivered.

“Yeah?”

“Mmmmhm. Oh, baby, I’m going to take you to pieces.” He murmured, voice low and a soft whine caught in the back of Lance’s throat as he swallowed thickly.

“Babe, wait till we’re at the car at least to turn me on.” He breathed and Shiro huffed a small laugh, sliding out of the booth and standing up, taking Lance’s hand and swiftly leading him out to the parking lot.

“This at the car enough?” Shiro asked, pushing Lance up against the side of it and ghosting his lips over Lance’s.

“Babe-” Lance breathed, wetting his lip. “N-no, it isn’t. Why are you suddenly so horny-?”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Mm, because I remembered I can make you loud for me? And now I really _really_ want you.” He murmured, pressing kisses over Lance’s jaw and Lance breathed a soft moan, tipping his head to the side a little.

“Kashi, baby- someone’s gonna see-” Lance whined softly as Shiro mouthed messily at his neck. 

“Get in the back, then.” Shiro ordered softly and Lance whined, wanting to protest but giving in, opening the back door of the car, letting Shiro pull him into his lap as he slid in after him.

Lance bit his lip as Shiro pulled him flush against his chest, hands moving to cup his ass, squeezing softly as Lance gave a small whine.

“You call me out for being horny, but you’re just as bad, love.” He murmured, mouthing over Lance’s neck as Lance gasped softly.

“I-” Lance made to protest, breaking off into a pitiful whimper as Shiro bit down into his skin, sucking softly.

Shiro hummed, sucking and nipping at his skin, sliding his hands up under Lance’s shirt and over his chest, thumbs brushing over his nipples and Lance whimpered softly.

“Baby…” He breathed, hands burying themselves into Shiro’s hair, moaning softly as Shiro gently tugged at the buds, and Lance rocked his hips a little over Shiro’s lap.

Shiro hummed, hiking Lance’s shirt up and pressing wet open mouthed kisses over his chest, flicking his tongue out over one of his nipples and Lance gasped, tightening his grip in Shiro’s hair.

Lance moaned as Shiro wrapped his lips around the bud, sucking softly, bringing one hand to gently tug at his other, other hand going to palm him through his jeans.

Lance gave a breathy moan, rocking into Shiro’s touch, head tipped back and lips parted.

“You’re so easy to work up, baby.” Shiro murmured, switching to his other nipple and laving it with the same attention.

“Fuck…” Lance gasped, whining softly and rocking his hips faster. “Please…”

“Please what, baby?” Shiro asked, pressing a soft kiss over his nipple before flicking his tongue out over it.

“Touch me…” Lance whimpered.

“I am touching you.” Shiro murmured.

“Takashi… please.” Lance huffed.

“No, baby. You’re not going to cum until we get home.”

Lance whined. “Why not?”

“Because I said so.”

“You’re so horrible.” Lance whined, pouting. “Please, baby.”

“Mmmmm, nope.” Shiro said with a grin, pulling his shirt down and patting Lance’s ass, slipping him out of his lap and getting out of the car and into the front, leaving Lance breathless and hard in the back seat.

“I am divorcing you.” Lance pouted, getting into the passenger seat and glaring at him sulkily.

Shiro snorted. “Yeah, you tried that, babe. Didn’t exactly work out.”

Lance rolled his eyes and huffed as Shiro started the engine, pulling out of the parking lot and Lance rubbed his thighs together, giving a soft whine.

“That was really mean.” He pouted.

Shiro shrugged, humming. “If you want to touch yourself, I’m not going to stop you.” He said, glancing at Lance who stilled, and glanced back.

“What?”

“If you want to touch yourself. You should.”

Lance wet his lip and swallowed. “We’re in the car.”

“I’m aware.”

“We’re driving.”

“Yes.”

“Someone could see.”

“It’s dark, no one’s gonna see, babe.”

Lance bit his lip, contemplating this.

“Go on.” Shiro said, raising an eyebrow.

“I thought it was an ‘I’m not going to stop you.’”

“Well now it’s an instruction.”

Lance looked at him for a long moment and then carefully unzipped his pants, pulling them down a little and pulling his cock out of his underwear, swallowing thickly and giving a soft moan as he wrapped his hand around it.

“Don’t cum until I say you can.” Shiro said, glancing at him, eyes catching and lingering on his cock.

“Mmmhm.” Lance nodded, giving a small moan as he began to work his hand over himself.

“Just like that, baby.” Shiro praised softly and Lance let his eyes fall closed, head tipping back against the headrest, whimpering as he rubbed his thumb through his slit.

Lance whined softly, watching Shiro as he kept flicking his gaze to where Lance was fisting over his cock, eyes lingering for a few moments too long before refocusing on the road each time and Lance could see how Shiro was straining in his own pants.

“Baby, I wanna cum.” Lance whined when they were only a few roads away from home, bucking up into his fist with each movement of his hand.

“No, you’re gonna cum down my throat.” Shiro said and Lance gave a broken whimper.

“Get- get home faster, baby, please…”

“I am really trying not to get us killed right now, this was a horrible idea.” Shiro said, biting his lip hard as he kept glancing over to Lance.

Lance huffed a laugh. “You can only suck my dick if you don’t crash the car, my love.”

“That’s a good incentive.” Shiro nodded, stealing another glance to where Lance had slowed his movements right down, spreading precum down his shaft.

“Uh huh.” Lance agreed breathlessly. “Come on, we’re nearly there.”

“Not near enough.” Shiro mumbled, a small growl in the back of his throat, turning into another road.

It wasn’t long before they arrived home, only a few minutes, but the second they pulled up in the drive and switched the engine off Shiro was leaning over him, swallowing his cock down to the hilt and moaning around him.

“Oh shit- baby- baby, fuck-” Lance gasped, caught off guard, immediately burying a hand in Shiro’s hair, hips bucking up and he felt Shiro choke a little around him. “Sorry- sorry-” He gasped.

Shiro hummed around him, bobbing his head and sinking back down, swallowing around his cock and looking up at him, practically begging him to cum and Lance couldn’t not- spilling down his throat with a low groan, fingers curled in his hair.

“Fuck- fuck- Takashi…” Lance breathed as he came down from his high and Shiro pulled off of him, wiping his mouth and flashing him a grin.

“Didn’t crash the car.” He said and Lance gave a breathless laugh.

“Maybe next time not _while_ you’re driving?”

Shiro hummed and shrugged. “We’ll see.” He said, unlocking the car and getting out.

Lance tucked himself back into his pants, getting out after him and unlocking the front door.

Lance had barely gotten the door closed before Shiro was rounding on him and pressing him against it, hard cock pressed against his thigh as he kissed him deeply.

Lance made a small surprised noise, looping his arms around Shiro’s neck and moaning into his mouth as Shiro slid their tongues together.

“I could just watch you touch yourself forever.” He murmured, parting from him and pressing messy kisses down his throat.

“Mm, or you could touch me instead.” Lance reasoned, tilting his head and biting his lip, shivering as Shiro’s hands roamed over his skin, under his shirt and he rocked his hips as Lance slid his thigh between Shiro’s legs.

“Mm, that does sound like a good idea.” Shiro murmured, hands moving to grip Lance’s hips, as he rut his cock against Lance’s thigh, groaning softly against his neck.

“Yeah? You wanna take me to bed then baby, or are you gonna have me against the front door?” He asked with a small laugh, sliding his hands down to cup Shiro’s ass. 

“Mm, you know that does sound good.” Shiro groaned. 

Lance rolled his eyes affectionately. “You really wanna fuck me against our front door?”

“Mmmmhm. Then I’m gonna take you to bed and I’m gonna have you again.”

Lance whined, biting his lip. “Fuck.” He moaned.

“That sound good?” Shiro asked and Lance could feel his smirk against his skin. 

“M-Mhm.” Lance nodded, biting his lip. “Really good.”

“Wait here, baby.” Shiro murmured, pulling away and Lance whined softly, watching him retreat down the hall to their bedroom. 

Lance was quick to unzip his pants, pulling them off and tossing them on the couch, pulling his shirt over his head, too, tossing that with it and leaning back against the door, a little breathless as he waited for Shiro.

Shiro bit his lip as he came back out, running his eyes over Lance’s body and giving a soft groan.

“Baby…” He whined, pressing himself against Lance, running his hands over his torso and hooking his fingers into his underwear, pulling them swiftly down, fabric pooling at his ankles, and Shiro picked them up, tossing them with the rest of Lance’s clothes.

Lance shivered under his touch, biting his lip as Shiro ran his hands down his sides and over his hips.

“You’re so beautiful.” Shiro murmured.

“Mm, you think?” Lance asked with a teasing smile, looping his arms around Shiro’s neck.

“You know I do.” Shiro said back, rolling his eyes and nipping at Lance’s neck, smiling against his skin as Lance gave a small squeak.

“You gonna fuck me then, babe?” Lance asked with an impatient huff as he tilted his head.

Shiro nodded, grabbing up the lube from where he’d put it down and hiking one of Lance’s legs over his hip.

“Bet you won’t need to stretch much.” Lance said through a soft moan as Shiro rubbed the tips of his fingers over his hole. 

Shiro huffed a small laugh. “Oh yeah?”

“Well- we’ve been having sex a lot, babe.” Lance reasoned, biting his lip as he felt the coolness of the lube on Shiro’s fingers as they were back pressing at his entrance.

Shiro hummed, sinking two into him. “So what I’m hearing is you wanna get all nice and loose for me so I can just slip right in? Like a little whore?”

Lance gave a small whimper at that. “Not- not my fault you wanna fuck so much…”

“I don’t see you complaining, baby.” Shiro said, huffing a laugh as he crooked his fingers against Lance’s prostate and he cried out softly.

“I’m- I’m not, fuck…” Lance whined, rocking his hips. 

“No…?” Shiro asked, spreading his fingers inside of him and slipping a third into him. 

Lance quickly shook his head, whimpering. “Please, I want you.”

Shiro hummed, as Lance made quick work of his shirt, unbuttoning it and leaving it hanging around his shoulders, before going for his belt.

“Come on, baby, you know you want me, I can take it.” He pouted and Shiro gave a soft groan as Lance pulled his pants down, pulling his hard cock from his underwear and running his hand over it. “ _Please_.”

“God, you really are a little slut, babe.” Shiro groaned softly, pulling his fingers from Lance and hiking his other leg over his waist, holding him up against the door and lining up at Lance’s entrance, pulling Lance by his hips down onto him.

They both groaned as Shiro sank into him, Lance pulling Shiro in for a messy kiss once he was fully seated inside of him.

“Fuck…” Lance groaned weakly as Shiro began to grind his hips, pushing his cock deeper into him, before beginning to thrust, only giving a few gentle ones before picking up the pace, gripping Lance’s thighs and burying his face into Lance’s neck as he fucked quickly into him.

Lance whimpered, quickly pulling Shiro’s shirt down his shoulders as he raked his nails over his skin, head thrown back against the door and giving breathless moans with each thrust.

“Let me hear you.” Shiro murmured against his skin, fucking into him harder and Lance whined, letting himself go a little as he remembered that for once, he didn’t have to be quiet, and Ella wasn’t in the house. 

“Fuck- fuck-” He moaned, clutching at Shiro’s back, legs wrapped tightly around his waist as Shiro thrust into him, biting messily at his collar bones, no doubt marking him with deep bruises.

“That’s it, baby, just like that.” Shiro groaned, fingertips pressing into the flesh of his thighs as he held him firmly against the door. 

“Oh fuck-” Lance gasped, slamming his head against the door as he threw it back, lips parted in pleasure as Shiro pulled him down over his cock, hips shifting so that the head of Shiro’s cock was roughly knocking into his prostate with each thrust.

“Baby- baby- _god_.” Shiro groaned.

“Lance’ll do.” Lance said with a breathless laugh and Shiro bit down into his shoulder.

“That joke- got old years ago.” He huffed, snapping his hips and drawing a pitiful whimper from Lance.

Lance moaned, scratching over Shiro’s back as he clung to him, digging his heels into Shiro’s lower back and Shiro groaned, sounding wrecked.

“I’m- I’m not gonna last long enough-” He whined against Lance’s skin, hips already stuttering and Lance couldn’t find it in himself to blame him; he’d already cum once after all.

“It’s okay- it’s okay, baby, just cum, I want you to cum for me.”

Shiro whimpered against him, rutting his cock desperately into him, panting and gripping Lance’s thighs in a way that Lance thought- hoped- would bruise.

“I’m- fuck, _Lance_.” Shiro groaned, thrusting deeply into him as he came, grinding his cock as he spilled into him and Lance whined loudly, biting down hard on his lip and cupping the back of Shiro’s head, holding him close.

Shiro panted, blowing out a long shaky breath as he came down from his high, slumping against Lance and pressing a few soft kisses to where he’d marked his skin, not pulling out of Lance just yet.

“You okay?” Lance asked breathlessly, gently stroking over his back and Shiro nodded.

“Mmmhm, just weighing up my options.” He murmured.

“Oh yeah? And what would those be?”

“Mm, well I know I said I’d take you to bed and have you again, but since we have the house to ourselves, I have the sudden urge to have you absolutely everywhere.”

Lance hummed, biting his lip. “Like where?” He asked, unable to deny the appeal.

“I don’t know, couch; kitchen counter; dining table.” He said, listing a few.

“Mmmm.” Lance sighed softly, gently stroking over Shiro’s back. “I uh- kitchen counter.” He said quickly, swallowing.

Shiro hummed, readjusting his grip on Lance’s thighs and carrying him into the kitchen and setting him down on the breakfast bar, pushing him back so that he was laying back, resting on his elbows.

Shiro groaned softly as he slipped his soft cock out of him, pushing Lance’s thighs apart and scooping the little cum that had dripped from his ass onto his thumb and pushing it back inside.

Lance groaned, biting his lip. “Babe-” He whined.

“Don’t worry, baby.” Shiro murmured, bringing a hand to wrap around Lance’s leaking cock. “I won’t make you wait.” 

Lance whimpered, bucking his hips, pushing his cock into Shiro’s fist. 

“Want your cock back…” Lance whined, and Shiro quickly wrapped his other hand around his own length, pumping quickly.

“Don’t worry, angel, I’ve got you.” He murmured as Lance panted and writhed on the counter, hips unsteadily bucking into his touch.

“Please, please, please…” Lance whined, and it was only a few minutes before Shiro was pressing back into him, but entirely all too long in Lance’s opinion.

He whined, gripping onto Shiro’s forearms and pulling him over him as he slid his cock back into him, gasping out a loud breathless moan.

“Fuck, fuck, Takashi, baby-” He whined, biting down hard on his lip as he threw his head back.

“God, Lance, you’re so fucking incredible.” Shiro groaned, gripping Lance’s hips as he thrust into him.

Lance moaned and Shiro pulled him against him, pulling his cock out of him momentarily and slipping Lance off of the counter, turning him around and bending him over it, roughly thrusting back into him.

Lance cried out, rocking quickly back against him, one hand clutching at the counter top, other going to grip around his cock, pumping himself quickly as Shiro fucked into him.

“Takashi- I’m-” Lance gasped as Shiro knocked harshly into his prostate, back arching.

“Cum, angel.” Shiro groaned and Lance whined, knowing that in this position, he was going to make an absolute mess all over the floor, but there was nothing he could do with Shiro perfectly hitting into his prostate with each thrust, and he was spilling only a few moments later, cum spattering over the floor.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” He panted, cheek resting against the cool counter as Shiro fucked him through it.

“Oh fuck, Lance, baby.” Shiro groaned, gripping his hips tightly, slapping their skin together. “You good?” He asked, stroking his thumbs over his skin.

“M-mmhm.” Lance moaned, nodding, a bit over sensitive, but good for Shiro to keep going until he came.

“God, you feel so fucking good.” He groaned, grinding his hips into him, before picking back up the fast pace.

Lance whimpered, panting hard, rolling his hips back against Shiro’s, meeting each of his thrusts, and Shiro’s groans grew more breathy and ragged, hips stuttering against him.

“Lance, babe-” Shiro groaned, grinding into him, pulling Lance against his cock, before spilling into him, groaning lowly as he came.

Lance moaned, biting his lip and panting hard, Shiro riding out his orgasm, before wrapping his arms around Lance’s middle, which Lance was grateful for, as he felt like he might just have collapsed if he hadn’t.

“I got you, baby.” Shiro said softly, leaning over him and pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades, before slipping his cock from him and scooping Lance up into his arms, carrying him down into their bathroom. 

Lance leant against him, nestling his head in the crook of Shiro’s neck, limbs aching and feeling positively exhausted. 

“Let’s clean you up, hm?” He said, carefully setting Lance down in the shower and Lance nodded, leaning against him.

“Mmhm.” Lance agreed, pressing a kiss to his chest. “I love you.”

“I love you too, my angel.” Shiro said softly, kissing Lance’s head and then setting about cleaning the cum from him, and then lathering soap over his body. “Want me to wash your hair?”

“Please.” Lance agreed with a tired smile, letting his eyes slip closed with a contented sigh as Shiro worked his fingers into lance’s hair.

“That better?” He asked after washing it out and Lance nodded, taking the soap and insisting on cleaning Shiro himself.

“I gotta clean the kitchen.” He said with a frown after washing Shiro’s chest down. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” Shiro said, kissing his forehead and shutting the water off, wrapping Lance in a towel and carrying him to bed.

“You’re the best.” Lance said with a soft sigh, gently pulling Shiro in for a kiss.

Shiro smiled, chasing his lips when Lance pulled away and pressing a few more kisses to his lips before pulling away.

Lance hummed, drying himself off properly and then getting under the covers, snuggling down in bed and waiting for Shiro to come back.

He came back fairly quickly, but too long for Lance’s liking, snuggling down next to him and pulling Lance against his chest, kissing his forehead and tucking him under his arm.

“Sleep well, baby.” Shiro murmured softly.

“You too, my love.” Lance murmured back, pressing a kiss to his collar bones and snuggling against him, eyes falling closed and he slipped into an easy sleep a few minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes im sorry this has taken me so long ;-; also sorry if you follow me on twitter ive been whining about it all week lmao
> 
> however i do think we're nearing the end of this :'( in the timeline its a few weeks to christmas, and they're going to be telling their friends when they all get together then, and im not sure how much past that i'm going to be continuing, because i have sadly lost a lot of motivation for this fic and so super super excited to work on all of my new projects and i dont feel like i can until this is finished, but there'll still probably be maybe 3-5 more im not sure yet so dont worry!
> 
> on that note !!
> 
> i wrote a smut scene set before shiro moved out which you can read here: [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17985065)  
> (also if you guys would be interested in it, i have quite a few ideas that id like to write that are pre-this fic before shiro moved out, also post when ella's a little older, but i gotta know what you guys think because,,,, its kind of,,, personal to this fic so)
> 
> i wrote another shance smut which honestly i love and you should go check out if you havent already, i know some of you have and i love you <3 [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17989154)
> 
> me and my friend ashley released the first chapter of our single parent shiro primary school teacher lance au which we're going to be posting a chapter a week (and we have like 50k done) of that and aaaaah i love it so much you should all 100% go and check that out and you can read that [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18001553)
> 
> and lastly, you can [follow me on twitter here](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know), i ramble about this fic a hell of a lot, and also anything else im working on and i link when i post new stuff, too! and i like to think im funny, sometimes
> 
>  
> 
> wow sorry that was so long !! i love you guys !!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lance… I thought you said this had stopped.” Hunk said with a sigh equally as heavy, looking back to him. 
> 
> Lance didn’t have to look to know Shiro was there, tentatively coming into the kitchen with a confused expression on his face, and he also didn’t have to look to just _know_ that Shiro was only in his underwear, and he was probably covered in hickeys and scratches, too.
> 
> “It’s not like that.” Lance said quickly, glancing to Shiro as he came up behind him. “We’re not sleeping together- I mean, we _are_ sleeping together, but we’re not _just_ sleeping together.”
> 
> Hunk looked between them for a very long moment and then sighed. “Last time we spoke about this, you said that absolutely under _no_ circumstances would you and Shiro _ever_ be getting back together.” He said expectantly, folding his arms across his chest.
> 
> Lance squeaked. “You know, I don’t think I used such forceful words.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao sorry for the little break but im back on this bullshit

Shiro was still asleep when Lance woke up, warm and nestled against him, a small smile on his face and eyes still closed. Shiro’s breathing was heavy and even, arm wrapped firmly around him even in his sleep, keeping him close. 

Lance shifted against him, stretching and Shiro made a small noise of discomfort as Lance shifted out of his arms, rolling onto his side to look at him. He had a small frown on his face now, brows pinched and lips pressed in a small pout. 

Lance reached out to gently brush his hair from his face, watching as it flopped right back the second he moved his fingers away. He smiled softly and gently traced his fingers over Shiro’s jawline. 

Lance took a moment to try and untangle his legs from Shiro’s, Shiro making a small whining noise in his sleep, brows pinching further and Lance smiled, biting his lip as a moment later he became aware of Shiro’s cock pressing into his thigh as he tried to extract himself from him.

He experimentally rocked his thigh against him and a small breath escaped Shiro, and Lance hummed, snaking a hand down between them to lightly wrap around his erection and slowly begin to jerk him off. 

Shiro huffed a small breath, features relaxing as Lance slowly worked him and Lance tilted his head, pulling back from him and smiling at the discontented huff that Shiro gave. He pulled the covers back, wondering how much he could get away with before Shiro would wake up, carefully pushing Shiro’s thighs apart and settling between his legs. 

He took his cock back in hand, and looked up at him as he began pumping it again, slowly and gently, before leaning down to carefully take the tip between his lips. He gave a soft suck as he wrapped his lips around the head, humming gently around it as he sank down onto it, taking a little more into his mouth. 

Shiro made a sleepy groaning noise, and Lance glanced up at him, but it didn’t seem as though he was awake yet, and Lance continued, pulling up and flicking his tongue through his slit a few times, before sinking back down, gently bobbing his head and taking more and more into his mouth until Shiro’s cock was nicely seated in his throat. 

He swallowed around him and Shiro gave a small strangled noise, weakly thrusting up into his mouth and Lance choked a little, quickly pulling off to cough. He watched Shiro for a few moments, and after deciding that he somehow still, wasn’t awake, he pressed gentle kisses to the tip of his cock, taking it back into his mouth and sucking, tasting his salty precum on his tongue as it seeped into his mouth. 

He cupped his balls with one hand, giving a gentle squeeze, Shiro’s cock twitching in his mouth, a little more pre seeping out, and his hips stuttered as Lance sank all the way back down, swallowing around him again, focusing on keeping himself nice and relaxed as Shiro gently bucked up into his mouth. 

It wasn’t long after that that a hand found its way into Lance’s hair, cupping his head and holding it in place as Shiro lazily thrust into his mouth, sleepy breathless moans escaping him. 

Lance looked up at him, watching as he slowly came to, face contorting in a mixture of pleasure and confusion, eyes finally fluttering open and meeting Lance’s, a groan spilling from his lips and a little precum oozing onto Lance’s tongue. 

“Lance…” Shiro moaned, voice low and raspy and Lance groaned around him, bobbing his head to meet him half way as Shiro thrust up into his mouth. 

Lance moaned softly, sucking around his cock and gently squeezing at his balls and Shiro gave a whimper, biting his lip and thrusting up into his mouth with a little more intent, hips stuttering a little. 

“I’m close-” He warned, though he didn’t need the warning; Lance could already tell. 

He hummed in acknowledgement, letting Shiro tighten his grip in his hair and pull him down over his cock as he thrust up into his mouth, moaning breathlessly as he got closer and closer, before finally tipping over the edge with a low rough groan, spilling into Lance’s mouth and holding him down over his cock. 

Lance moaned, swallowing his cum as it filled his mouth, making sure that he had swallowed every drop before pulling off, barely having noticed as Shiro had released his grip in his hair, and was now lovingly stroking his head. 

“Morning.” He said, voice still gravelly with sleep and Lance smiled lazily up at him. 

“Morning.” He replied, biting his lip, leaning into his touch as Shiro stroked his face, cupping his cheek. 

“What was that for?” He asked with a small laugh. 

“Mm, you were hard.” Lance said as an explanation, crawling up the bed and over Shiro, before settling on his chest when they were nose to nose and pressing their lips together. 

“It’s called morning wood.” Shiro said, huffing a laugh and Lance nestled his face into the crook of Shiro’s neck. 

“My darling, I have been waking up next to you for about six years now, and moreover I’ve been experiencing it myself for like, fifteen years, I think I know what that is. You just looked really cute sleeping and you made cute noises when I touched your dick, so I kept touching it and here we are.”

“You woke me up.” Shiro pouted and Lance laughed. 

“Oh, I’m _so sorry_.” He teased, and Shiro wrapped an arm around him. 

“Mm, you’d better be.” He said, kissing the side of his head and blowing out a breath. “What are we doing today?” He asked after a few minutes through a yawn. 

“Mmm, Hunk’s bringing Ells back in the afternoon, so… we can just have a bit of a lazy day until then, if you want.” He said and Shiro nodded. 

“Sounds good, let’s go back to sleep.” He said and Lance rolled his eyes, sitting up in his lap and looking down at him. 

“Reaaaally? You wanna go _back_ to sleep?”

Shiro pouted. “I’m tireddd, you woke me up.”

“Yeah, with an _orgasm_.”

“And my dick is forever grateful.” He retorted, resting his hands on Lance’s hips. “But I’m tired.”

“Mmmmm, fine.” Lance huffed with a smile, getting up off of the bed and stretching. “Get some more sleep then, angel.” He said, kissing Shiro on the forehead and sauntering over to the dresser, pulling on some clean underwear and wrapping his dressing gown loosely around himself. “Eggs?”

“Scrambled?” Shiro asked with a sleepy smile, reaching out and making a grabby hand at Lance.

“Mmhm.” Lance agreed, taking his hand and letting Shiro pull him in, laughing softly as he pressed a series of kisses to his lips.

“Love you.” Shiro smiled, pulling him in for one more before finally letting Lance go.

“I love you, too.” Lance laughed softly, stopping in the doorway to give him a soft smile before heading into the kitchen.

It wasn’t early; around midday, but that was okay, Ella wasn’t due back until around three, anyway. Lance hummed, getting a pan out and starting on the eggs, swaying a little to himself, before getting out the toaster to make a start on the toast.

It had barely been in the toaster thirty seconds before Lance heard the front door closing and saw Ella whirling past him down the hall.

“Hunk?” Lance squeaked, turning around to see Hunk sheepishly smiling at him.

“Hey, I don’t suppose you checked your phone?”

“Uh, no?”

“Right. Well, I’ve been called into work for an emergency, so I’ve had to drop her back earlier. Sorry about the intrusion- Ella needed the bathroom.”

“It’s- it’s fine.” Lance said, running a hand through his hair.

Right. That was fine. Ella was back and Hunk was here, but as long as Shiro was getting some more sleep and didn’t come out of the bedroom then everything would be fine.

Lance sighed heavily as he saw Hunk’s eyes flick to the space behind him in the hall, much higher up than Ella’s height would have been. Shiro was supposed to be _sleeping_ , fuck.

“Lance… I thought you said this had stopped.” Hunk said with a sigh equally as heavy, looking back to him. 

Lance didn’t have to look to know Shiro was there, tentatively coming into the kitchen with a confused expression on his face, and he also didn’t have to look to just _know_ that Shiro was only in his underwear, and he was probably covered in hickeys and scratches, too.

“It’s not like that.” Lance said quickly, glancing to Shiro as he came up behind him. “We’re not sleeping together- I mean, we _are_ sleeping together, but we’re not _just_ sleeping together.”

Hunk looked between them for a very long moment and then sighed. “Last time we spoke about this, you said that absolutely under _no_ circumstances would you and Shiro _ever_ be getting back together.” He said expectantly, folding his arms across his chest.

Lance squeaked. “You know, I don’t think I used such forceful words.” 

“So what’s going on?”

“Um-” Lance said, wetting his lip and running a stressed hand through his hair. “Takashi, will you go and put something on, please?”

Shiro looked at him for a moment and then nodded, glancing to Hunk and then retreating from the kitchen.

Lance sighed heavily, putting his head in his hands. 

“You and Shiro are back together?”

Lance gave a small nod. “Yeah.”

“And that’s… a wise idea?”

Lance sighed and gave a helpless shrug. “I don’t _know_. But I know that I love him and- we _need_ to do this, we need to give it another chance.”

“Okay.” Hunk said softly with a nod. “Okay, if that’s what you have to do. I just don’t want you getting hurt again.”

Lance huffed a small laugh. “Yeah, I know. Me neither. But… look, we’re going to do whatever it takes this time, okay? We’re going to make it work.”

“Okay.” Hunk agreed.

“Don’t tell anyone.” Lance said quickly. “Especially not Pidge. Ella doesn’t even know, yet.”

“How long?”

“A few weeks, maybe. A month. We were going to just sort of… give till Christmas and then tell everyone when we’re at Keith and Allura’s.”

“Alright, I won’t say anything. How did this… I mean, you might not have used such forceful words but the intent was clear. What happened?”

Lance gave a small shrug. “I don’t know. We never really… we never really stopped loving each other, we just… learned to not be in each other’s lives. And then having that again, even for- the short amount of time it was, we just… we knew that… we needed to be together.”

Hunk gave him a small smile. “Well, I’m happy for you. I really am. As long as… you both really mean that, and you’re going to make it work and no one’s going to get hurt like that again, then- I’m really happy for you.”

Lance bit his lip with a smile. “You are?”

“Of course I am.” Hunk said with a fond roll of his eyes. “What, do you think the others won’t be?”

“I don’t know... “ Lance sighed. “I just didn’t… want to have to explain myself to anyone. I mean, it hasn’t been… easy, which is why he haven’t said anything, but it’s good. It’s really good.”

“Yes, I could tell.” Hunk said, raising an eyebrow and Lance flushed deeply.

“Not like that! I mean yes- that’s amazing, too, better than it w- no, tmi.” He said, shaking his head with a wince as Hunk snorted. “Um, but yes. It’s really good, I’m really… I’m really happy, and I really love him.”

“Then I’m glad. And so will everyone else be, when you tell them.” 

Lance blew out a breath and nodded. “Yeah, I know. I just… have a lot of anxiety about a lot of things, I just… I don’t think I could take it if it went wrong again… and Ella… and…”

“Hey.” Shiro said softly from the doorway, and Lance jumped. “That’s not going to happen.” He said, coming in and gently wrapping Lance up in his arms, pressing a kiss to his head. “I will _never_ let it.”

“Okay.” Lance agreed softly, melting against him. 

“I promise.” Shiro reaffirmed softly against his hair and Lance gave a small nod.

“I have faith in you both.” Hunk said with a soft smile, shaking his head. “You’re soulmates, or something like that.”

“Mm, you believe in soulmates?” Lance asked, twisting in Shiro’s arms to look at Hunk.

“I think if I _did_ , it would be you two.”

Lance bit his lip as he smiled. “Me too.” He said and Shiro held him a little tighter.

“Okay, well, I gotta run, okay?” 

Lance nodded. “Of course. Thank you so much for having Ella.”

“No worries, any time. You know we love having her.”

Lance nodded with a smile, blowing out a long breath and collapsing against Shiro as Hunk headed for the door.

“Well… that could have gone worse.” Shiro said, holding Lance against him.

“Yep.” Lance agreed.

“Absolutely under _no_ circumstances?” Shiro asked with a soft laugh, raising an eyebrow.

Lance pouted. “I didn’t say it like that, and even if I did, I was completely within my right.”

“Yes, of course, angel.” Shiro agreed. “Now, I think your eggs are burning.”

Lance’s eyes widened and he cursed, rushing over to the hob to take them off of the heat with a groan. He put the pan down on the side and switched the heat off, huffing. 

“Well… I guess we need new breakfast plans.” He said, just as Ella came into the kitchen, walking over to them both with a bright smile and wrapping her arms around Lance’s legs. 

“Hi papa.” She said, looking up at him. “Did you miss me?”

“I did, baby girl.” He said, gently stroking her hair with a soft smile. 

“You didn’t tell me daddy was gonna be here.” She said with a small pout, reaching out with a grabby hand at Shiro, who quickly knelt down beside her, taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. 

“I wanted to surprise you, princess.” He said with a smile and Ella smiled back. 

“I missed you.” She said. 

“I missed you too, beautiful.” Shiro replied, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. 

“Have you eaten?” Lance asked and Ella nodded. 

“Yeah, when I woke up… like… ten hours ago.”

“Ten hours ago?” Lance asked with a laugh. “You woke up at… two in the morning?”

“Uh huh.” She said confidently and he and Shiro laughed. 

“Well, I suppose we could go and get something for lunch then.” He suggested and Shiro nodded. 

“That sounds like a good plan to me.” He said, standing up and pressing a soft kiss to Lance’s forehead. 

Lance quickly glanced down at Ella and raised his eyebrows and Shiro gave a small helpless shrug with a smile.

“Does that sound good?” Shiro asked, looking down and Ella nodded. 

“Sounds great!” She said with a wide smile. 

“Good, papa’s got to get ready first, okay?” He said and she nodded, stepping away from them and wandering down the hall to her bedroom. 

“Well.” Lance said, blowing out a long breath. “That was… a morning.” He said, and Shiro smiled, shaking his head and pecking his lips. 

“It was, but it could have gone worse.” 

“True. I mean… Hunk definitely knows just how good our sex life is, but other than that…” He said and Shiro snorted. “I’m not kidding, have you looked in the mirror?”

Shiro flushed a little and gave a small shrug. “Not really.”

“Mm.” Lance hummed. “And your _back_. Sorry.” He said with a sheepish smile. 

Shiro just laughed and kissed Lance’s temple. 

“D’you think… everyone’s going to react as well as Hunk?”

Shiro bit his lip. “I don’t know. I mean… we’re a family, all of us, but… people still took sides, I guess, in a way. Or… you sort of had everyone, and I had Keith.”

“Shiro…” Lance said, frowning.

Shiro shrugged. “It’s fine, I mean… it wasn’t difficult to see why. I don’t… blame anyone for it, I deserved it. I just… I’m very aware of what our friends think of me. They might love me, of course they love me, but they still… have an opinion of what happened, and there’s a reason that everyone was there for you more than they were for me.”

“I don’t… know where you’re going with this.” Lance said softly, gently wrapping an arm around Shiro’s waist and holding him close. 

“I just mean… I worry that they’ll have their reservations about me. About me hurting you, I guess, I don’t know. I mean even Hunk said it, the door was open, I could still… hear him. Even you said it.”

“Baby-” Lance said, cupping his face. “I trust you.” He said gently, stroking his cheek. “And that’s all that matters.”

“Do you?” Shiro asked softly, a small frown etching onto his forehead. 

“I do.” Lance replied, and gently pressed their lips together. “I promise you I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t. Because screw me, Ella’s more important than that. But I trust you. Even if… I have moments of panic sometimes, when it comes down to it I trust you. Implicitly. You love me. You love me enough not to let anything come between us again, and I know that.”

“You promise?”

“I swear.” Lance said, not sure how his voice was coming out as confident as it was. 

It was true. He _did_ trust Shiro. He _had_ to. Maybe it was stupid, maybe he shouldn’t, and maybe those moments of panic were right, maybe he should have been more cautious about this. But he wasn’t, and he did. This was going to work out, because he and Shiro were meant to be together. And that was that. 

“I love you.” Lance murmured, resting their foreheads together and Shiro let out a soft breath. 

“I love you too.” He replied, staying like that a moment before tucking his face into the crook of Lance’s neck and blowing out a long breath. 

They stayed like that for a good few minutes, just holding each other, Lance cupping the back of Shiro’s head and gently stroking over his hair, Shiro’s arms wrapped firmly around Lance’s waist. 

“I’d be a fool to ever let you go again.” Shiro murmured and Lance gave a small laugh. 

“You would.” He agreed, kissing his head. “Now let me go and get dressed, I’m starving.”

Shiro hummed and nodded, letting go of him and Lance made to leave, turning around in the doorway to look at him. 

“And, Takashi?” He said, Shiro meeting his gaze. “Just because I got more sympathy doesn’t mean that you were hurting any less, or that that was any less valid. Just means I find it easier to cry in front of our friends.”

Shiro looked down and bit his lip, not saying anything. 

“You know that, right?” He asked and Shiro let out a breath, meeting his eyes again. 

“I guess.”

“Shiro.” Lance said, softening. “You’re gonna have to forgive yourself one of these days, or this is gonna be hanging over us for the rest of our lives.”

Shiro looked at him for a long few moments, and then gave a small nod, averting his eyes. 

“I mean it.” Lance reinforced. “I’ve forgiven you, and I really, really hope you’ve forgiven me. But we need to move forward, and honestly… I think we’re ready to. We’re gonna be okay. But you can’t keep blaming yourself, and coming up with reasons to, because all it’s doing is tearing you up. It’s not your fault. I promise you that it is not your fault. The only difference between you and me is that you had your breakdowns alone, and to Keith, and I had mine to… well, pretty much everyone. That’s all. We both made mistakes, and like you said- I kicked you out.” 

“You didn’t kick me out.” Shiro said softly. 

“You said I did. You thought I did. And I did, kind of. I didn’t _mean_ it, but I still told you that I thought you should leave, and you still did what you thought was best for me and you did as I said to. I started _all_ of our fights. And I ended them, too. _I_ was unreasonable and unfair, and I didn’t stop to _think_ about what was really going on, just that I was insecure. After seven years I was insecure. And I was an _idiot_.”

He held Shiro’s gave for a very long few seconds where neither of them said anything. 

“Have you forgiven me?”

Shiro clenched his jaw and swallowed. “I have never blamed you. There was nothing to forgive.”

Lance scoffed. “I think I’ve just listed plenty.”

“That’s not how I saw it.” Shiro said almost defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Of course it’s not. Doesn’t mean it’s not how it happened, though. Tell me, Shiro.” He said, leaning against the door frame. “In your opinion, did you stop loving me?”

“What? Of course not, I-” Shiro said quickly and Lance held up his hand. 

“Did you not love me enough to save our marriage? Did you not love me enough? Did you care about work more than you cared about me? Your _husband_ and our seven years of being together? Our four years of marriage? Did that mean _so little_ to you that you gave it up, just like that? Moved out when I asked because you didn’t want to deal with this anymore? Because you’d rather just keep on working hard and earning money and sacrificing everything we made together?”

“Lance-” Shiro said, voice breaking a little, eyes wide and filled with tears. 

Lance pressed his lips together, frowning. Maybe that had been a _little_ much. “My _point_ is that that wasn’t what happened. You might not have seen it as my fault, but it wasn’t yours. Not like that. Not in a way that matters. It’s my fault and it’s your fault, and I will keep saying that as many times as it takes, Takashi. _Please_ stop blaming yourself, you _have_ to.” 

Shiro looked down, a tear falling from each eye as he blinked. 

“My darling.” Lance said softly, walking over to him and cupping his face. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. It matters what _I_ think, because I’m your husband. And the father of your child and let me tell you, I would _not_ do _anything_ that I thought could hurt her. _Ever_.”

“I’m sorry.” Shiro said softly, leaning into his touch. 

“For?”

“Dragging this out.” 

Lance gave him a soft smile and gently brushed his thumbs under Shiro’s eyes. “You don’t need to say sorry for taking time to heal. We’re gonna be just fine, you and me, yeah? Like Hunk said; we’re soulmates. We’re meant to be together.”

Shiro gave him a small smile back, turning his head to press a kiss to Lance’s palm. 

“You gonna be okay to tell everyone at Christmas? We don’t have to, there’s absolutely no rush. If you’re not ready to hear what they have to say then we don’t have to commit to anything.”

Shiro let out a long breath. “No, I… needed to hear that. You’re right. I’m gonna be okay, we’re gonna be okay. And I’m gonna move on the best I can.” 

“We can have this conversation as many times as you need.” Lance said, kissing his forehead. “I promise.”

“I don’t de-” Shiro said and then trailed off, huffing a small laugh and shaking his head. “You’re wonderful.” He amended and Lance smiled. 

“See?” He said. “Didn’t that feel better?”

“Yeah, it did, actually.” Shiro agreed. “I think… if you’ve stuck around for this long, I must be doing something right. You’ve been dealing with me for nearly a decade now.”

“Mm, and I’m still helplessly in love with you, and think that you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. So I think you might be right.”

Shiro laughed softly and wrapped his arms around Lance, picking him up and carrying him over to the kitchen side, putting him down on it. 

“This doesn’t seem like letting me get dressed.” Lance said in a soft tease and Shiro hummed. 

“I think I’d rather kiss my husband instead.” Shiro said, leaning in and Lance leaned back as he did so with an amused smile. 

“Oh really?” He asked, looping his arms around Shiro’s neck and wrapping his legs around his waist. 

“Really.” He said, looking up at him lovingly and Lance gave in, leaning down to kiss him.

Shiro made a soft sound against his lips, sliding his hands into Lance’s hair and cupping his head, moving their lips together. 

“Maybe if you’re lucky, you can even watch me get dressed afterwards.” He murmured against his lips and Shiro gave a soft laugh. 

“I’m feeling lucky.” He smiled, chasing his lips and giving a soft nip. 

Lance laughed against him, wrapping his legs tighter around his waist and kissing him back, nipping at his lips in return and slipping his tongue into his mouth when Shiro parted his lips in a gentle moan. 

They kissed like that for a few minutes, smiling against each others lips and exploring each other’s mouths, before finally pulling apart and smiling softly at each other. 

“I love you.” Shiro whispered and Lance pressed another gentle kiss to his lips. 

“I love you, too.” He whispered back. 

They looked softly at each other for a long moment, before Lance finally pulled back, gaze falling in the doorway, where Ella was standing, looking at them with a frown, bottom lip jutted out. 

“Ella-” He said, and Shiro quickly turned around to look at her with wide eyes. 

She didn’t say anything, just looked at them worriedly and Lance got down off of the counter with a soft sigh, walking over to her and taking her hand. He didn’t say anything, just lead her into the living room and sat down on the sofa with her, pulling her into his lap and Shiro followed after them, sitting down beside them. 

“You said…” She said quietly. “You said we wouldn’t be happy anymore and there’d be yelling again if daddy came back.”

Lance bit his lip and gave a soft sigh. “I know, sweetheart. But things aren’t going to be like that, okay? I promise.”

“Why… why did you say that?”

“I said that because... “ He sighed, trying to figure out how to handle this. “I said that because I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I do now, okay? Can you trust me on that?”

She gave a small nod. 

“So daddy’s… coming back? To live with us?” She asked, biting her lip and looking between them. 

“Not yet.” Lance said softly. “But he will be, okay?”

Ella looked at Shiro and gave a small nod. “And you’re… not gonna leave again… right?”

“Not ever.” He said with a sad smile, kissing her forehead. 

Ella bit her lip, looking worried for a few more moments, clearly processing everything, before a wide smile broke out across her face. 

“You really mean it?” She said, looking between the two. 

“Really mean it.” Shiro agreed, smiling back and she threw her arms around his neck. 

“Just wait till I tell Auntie ‘Lu.” She smiled. 

“Ells.” Lance said, laying a hand on her arm. “You know how… when we give someone a present, we make sure that we don’t tell them about it, because we want it to be a surprise? Like when it’s daddy’s birthday and we go and pick out his presents and then we keep it a secret until his birthday?”

“Uh huh…”

“Well, daddy and I were thinking of telling everybody as a Christmas present, for a big surprise on Christmas, that sounds fun, right?”

Ella chewed on her lip and nodded. 

“So do you think you’d be able to keep it a secret from our family until then? So that they can all be really surprised and happy on Christmas?”

“Okaaaay.” She said, pouting. 

“Yeah?” Shiro said with a smile. “Secrets are loads of fun! It can be a game for us, just the three of us, yeah?”

She smiled at that and nodded. “Just the three of us.”

“Just the three of us.” Lance echoed and gave Shiro a soft smile, reaching out to take his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeeeeeeey sorry i took a two month break to write a 100k fic so you should uh, totally go and read that??  
> [Colour me blue](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18270461)  
> its a post s8 au where lance became a pornstar w aliens instead of a farmer and a whole bunch of shance and plot and god, theres so much porn,,, but its great i promise,,
> 
> ANYWAY theres only 1 chapter left of this !! that was the plan before i started writing pornstar lance i just uh, got a bit side tracked with it and suddenly it was 100k and two and a half months had passed and-  
> anyway here we are, finally finishing this off 
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated, as always, ily guys <3
> 
>  
> 
> and as always, you can [follow me on twitter here](https://twitter.com/thatsforme2know)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What, do I have to marry you again?” Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow.
> 
> “Mm, depends, do we get another honeymoon if I marry you again?” Lance hummed.
> 
> “Is that a deciding factor?”
> 
> “Yes.”
> 
> “Then yes.”
> 
> “I want to go somewhere with a beach.” Lance said airily. 
> 
> “Okay.”
> 
> “No.” He said, taking a step closer. “Screw the beach, I only care about the _bed_.”
> 
> “Done.” Shiro said, reciprocating the movement until they were only a few inches apart from each other’s lips. 
> 
> “Do you guys have something to tell us or are you just that drunk and horny?” Came Pidge’s voice from the living room and Lance jolted, snapped out of whatever little bubble he and Shiro had been in to remember that actually, the kitchen was very visible from the living room and it was mostly open plan, and everyone was staring at them. Hunk was clearly trying not to laugh. 
> 
> “A little bit of-” Lance said, being cut off by Shiro’s lips against his, pressing him back against the kitchen counter, kissing him hard, hungrily, like he was _dying_ for it.

Christmas crept upon them sooner than Lance would have liked, as things were always busy this time of year, and there just never seemed to be enough time for anything. The spirit in the air made up for it a little, though, and the smile on Ella’s face as they drove past the different decorated houses.

They hadn’t seen Shiro in the week leading up to it, as he’d been working overtime to make up for the extra time he’d taken off for the holidays, but they were all due to go to Keith and Allura’s house today for a few days, and while Shiro wouldn’t be getting there until the evening, Lance and Ella were dropping by earlier to help with things.

So after reminding Ella about their ‘secret’, they loaded the presents into the car, along with their overnight bags and made the trip to their house. It didn’t take them long to get there, and after opening the door and unbuckling her belt, Ella was already half way up the path to the front door, knocking on it loudly, while Lance got the things out of the car. 

Keith came out to help him a moment later, and they set the gifts down under the tree, Ella immediately latching onto Keith’s hand and dragging him away somewhere. Lance laughed and shook his head, wishing Keith luck and heading into the kitchen to find Allura. 

“Lance!” She exclaimed with a smile, throwing her arms around him in a hug. “You don’t have a drink, let me get you one.” She said, pouring some wine into a glass for him. 

“I only got here a minute ago, Lu.” He said with a laugh and she shook her head, thrusting it towards him. 

“Nonsense, that’s a minute too long.” She grinned, taking a sip from her own and Lance joined her, grinning back. “Where is my goddaughter?” She asked expectantly and Lance shrugged helplessly. 

“I… honestly don’t know. She found Keith and that was the last I saw of her. Hunk and Pidge aren’t here, are they? I didn’t see the car.”

Allura shook her head. “Mm, no. Katie got held up at work so they’ll be by in an hour or so. And Shiro’s not coming until the evening, don’t worry.”

Lance nodded, feigning nonchalance, taking another sip of his drink. “Can I help with anything?”

Allura shook her head. “No, no, don’t worry, I had Keith do most of the prep last night so it’s all just cooking now.” She said with a cheeky grin and Lance laughed. 

“Of course.” He said, nodding. “He hasn’t poisoned us, has he?”

Allura laughed. “He’s actually been having skype lessons with Hunk, bless him.” She said and Lance cooed. 

“Aww, is this baby’s first dinner party?”

“Shut up, Lance.” Keith said with a lazy smile as he came into the kitchen, Ella following after him, playfully bumping into his shoulder and picking up his own drink. 

“We’re all going to be absolutely smashed tonight at this rate.” Lance observed with a raised eyebrow. “Should I stop now?”

“No, no, no.” Allura assured him. “You know Hunk won’t have much and they’ll be here soon. Ella’ll be in bed early anyway, it’ll be fine.” She said and Lance gave a small laugh. 

“So inconvenient for Auntie Allura’s party plans.” He said, scooping Ella up into his arms and kissing her nose. 

Allura was quick to swipe her from him, holding her close with a smile. “Nonsense. It wouldn’t be a party without Princess Ella here now, would it?” She asked and Ella smiled and shook her head. “No, how silly your papa’s being.”

“Mm, I’m still surprised it’s been nearly five years now and I’m still the only one of us with a child. It’d be nice if she had a friend to play with, wouldn’t it? Not got any plans, you two?”

Keith and Allura shared a look. 

“There have been… discussions.” She said, and Lance raised an eyebrow. 

“And you _haven’t_ told me about this? Lu, I’m betrayed.” He said, putting a hand on his heart. 

Keith snorted. “Get over yourself.” He said playfully and Lance rolled his eyes. 

“I’m just saying. I think it’d be a good thing, I mean…” He said, trailing off and looking at Ella with a soft smile. “Ella’s the best thing that Shiro and I could have ever asked for.” 

“I have a secret.” Ella loudly announced and Lance’s eyes widened. No, no, not _now_ , not _yet_. 

“Yes, darling.” Lance said with a tight smile. “But remember what I told you?”

She thought for a moment and then pouted. “It’s a Christmas surprise. But it’s Christmas already!”

“Sweetheart, not yet, okay? You can’t tell anyone yet because Uncle Hunk and Auntie Katie aren’t here yet, and neither’s daddy, okay?”

Ella pouted as Lance took her from Allura’s arms. “But daddy already knows.” She whispered. 

“I know, but it’s a secret.” Lance whispered back, giving Keith and Allura a helpless smile.

“Okaaaay.” She said, resting her head on Lance’s shoulder. “When is daddy gonna get here?”

“Later, baby.” Lance said. “Do you wanna get out your puzzle that you brought? Maybe if you ask really nicely, Uncle Keith will help you with it.”

She nodded excitedly at that, struggling to get down. Lance put her down and she tugged on Keith’s hand, pulling him out into the living room to get her game. 

“See? He loves her.” Lance said, raising an eyebrow. 

“I never said he didn’t.” She said, folding her arms over her chest. “He’s great with her, I know. I don’t know, it’s not about _him_.”

“Is it about you?” He asked, tilting his head. 

“I don’t know.” She said, biting her lip and then taking a long sip of her drink. “I mean, maybe we’re just not ready yet. You and Shiro were together what- three years before you had her? I mean, hell, you were only married for a year or something before you adopted her. That’s… I don’t know. That was just you guys, you know?”

“Oh for sure.” Lance said quickly. “I’m not tryna like- pressure you, or say you should have by now. Shiro and I moved quickly, everyone knows that. I mean we started dating like a month after we met, so of course the rest was gonna be history.”

“Do you miss him?” Allura asked softly and Lance frowned. 

“I…” He said, not knowing how to answer that. “Yeah, I do.” He said. “Can we… talk about this after Christmas? I don’t…”

“Oh- god, yeah, of course.” She said quickly, nodding. “I don’t wanna bring anything up when he’s coming by later and you’re gonna be stuck together for a few days.”

“Yeah.” Lance said, already feeling guilty. “I mean, we _should_ talk about it. Just not yet.”

“Of course.” She said, nodding. “Are there… things to talk about, now?”

“Yeah, I guess so. I mean… this time last year was…” He said, trailing off and huffing a laugh. 

She laughed with him and clinked her glass against his. “It was. But we’re a year on, now. And last time I saw, you and Shiro seemed to be on pretty good terms.”

“We are.” He said with a small smile. “I mean, we see each other all the time. I guess there was just… a shift, when it stopped being something I dreaded and something that was okay again. I mean… he’s my friend, he’s… one of my best friends. I’m glad I didn’t end up losing that.”

“Me too.” She said with a smile. 

“But yeah, um, don’t worry.” He said with a small flush. “It’s not gonna be like last year, we’re- we’re fine, now.”

She laughed and nodded. “Okay. I’ll hold you to that, but don’t think I won’t be warning him, too. We both know how emotional he gets when he’s drunk.”

Lance smiled fondly and bit his lip. “It’s sweet.”

“Nothing about last Christmas was sweet.” She deadpanned and Lance laughed. 

“No, you’re right. It was awful. Ten out of ten would not try again.”

She laughed and shook her head. “So, I mean, I like to think you would have already told me, but you know I _have_ to ask. Seeing anyone?”

Lance flushed and looked down. 

“Oh my god, you _are_.”

“I-”

“ _Lance_.”

Lance groaned softly and ran a hand over his face. “Kind of- okay? I can’t really… talk about it, yet.”

She looked at him disapprovingly. “I would think as your best friend, you would talk to me about it.”

Lance feigned innocence. “What? Best friend? I thought that was Hunk.”

“Oh fuck off.” She said, rolling her eyes with a smile. “Laaance, come onnn.”

“I _promise_ I will tell you _alllll_ about it in a few days, okay? Just let me see him again first, and just… finish figuring things out.”

“So it’s a him.” She observed, raising an eyebrow. 

Lance huffed. “Yes. I will tell you all of the details, I will, I _swear_ , even the sexy ones.”

“ _Especially_ the sexy ones.” She corrected and Lance snorted. 

“Yes.”

“Wait- you’re fucking him? Does Ella know him-? Lance!”

Lance held up a hand. “No more questions. Give me a week, _max_.”

Allura pouted but nodded. “Ugh. Fine. I hate you.”

“I love you too.” He smiled brightly and she pouted harder.

She filled both of their drinks up and they went out into the living room, finding Keith and Ella sat on the floor around the coffee table, trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together. 

“Need any help?” Lance asked, sitting down next to her, and she eagerly nodded, taking a handful of pieces and depositing them in his lap.

Lance laughed and put them back on the table. “Thank you.” He said, and began to help putting them in place. 

The time passed quickly after that, and Hunk and Pidge soon arrived, everyone chatting and catching up, the puzzle soon getting finished with everyone pitching in and Ella moving onto her colouring book, graciously letting Lance do one half of the page while she did the other, choosing what colours he should be using and where. 

It wasn’t too long after that that Shiro arrived, Keith going to open the door and pulling Shiro into a hug. He met Lance’s eyes and gave him a wide smile before catching himself and averting his eyes. 

Lance bit his lip as he smiled, tapping Ella’s shoulder and pointing to the doorway. “Look, baby, daddy’s here.” He said, watching as she scrambled up and rushed over to him, flinging herself into his arms as he knelt down. 

“Daddy, daddy, I missed you so much!” She said, holding onto him tightly and Shiro held her back just as close. 

“I missed you too, beautiful.” He said, kissing her head. 

“Do you wanna come and colour with me and papa?” She asked, already tugging him over and sitting him down on the carpet next to Lance. 

“Well, here I am.” He said and Lance gave a small laugh, handing him a pencil. 

“No! Daddy needs the purple one!” She said, snatching it back from him. 

“Ella-” Lance said, raising an eyebrow and she pouted. 

“Sorry, papa.” She said, handing the pencil back to Shiro. “Please can you give daddy the purple one?”

“Of course.” Lance said, handing it to him.

Shiro took it from him and began to help Lance with his side of the colouring book, and they worked on that for a little while longer, until Keith served up dinner and they all went into the dining room.

Lance and Shiro hadn’t exactly talked about how they were going to tell everyone, or what they were going to say, but he supposed it didn’t matter much, for now they were just keeping things cool; friendly, but that was all. 

It was… fun, in a sort of weird way, and Lance really hoped that no one had caught on yet to the little looks they were exchanging. Hunk had definitely given them a few fond smiles and eye rolls, but that was all. 

Ella stayed up a little longer with them after dinner, but when she started yawning and rubbing at her eyes, they put her to bed in one of the guest rooms. Keith and Allura had two guest bedrooms, and that had used to work out okay, but like last year, they’d arranged it so that Pidge and Hunk would take one and Lance and Ella would take the other, and Shiro would sleep out in the living room on the sofa bed. 

That was fine, too, even if Lance did want to cuddle him; they hadn’t seen each other for a week or so, and he’d missed him. He hadn’t even got to kiss him yet. 

They’d all been drinking all evening, and at this point, Lance was… feeling it, to say the least. In a pleasant way, mind, in a way that made him feel like he could sort of just giggle at everything. 

They’d put on a movie, and everyone was squashed onto the couches, snuggled up together and nursing their drinks. 

“Mm, come with me to get refills.” Lance said, patting Shiro’s thigh and getting up from the couch, leading him into the kitchen. 

Lance hummed, getting a new bottle of wine out of the fridge and Shiro came up behind him, leaning against him as he opened the drawer to get the bottle opener out. 

“Missed you.” He murmured by his ear and Lance’s lips curled.

“I know your game, Shirogane.” He said playfully, raising an eyebrow, turning around against him and pushing him back a little. 

“Oh do you now, _Shirogane_?” Shiro countered and Lance grinned. 

“That’s McClain to you.” He teased and Shiro rolled his eyes. 

“We’re still married.”

“Doesn’t count.” Lance counterd. 

“What, do I have to marry you again?”

“Mm, depends, do we get another honeymoon if I marry you again?”

“Is that a deciding factor?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes.”

“I want to go somewhere with a beach.” Lance said airily. 

“Okay.”

“No.” He said, taking a step closer. “Screw the beach, I only care about the _bed_.”

“Done.” Shiro said, reciprocating the movement until they were only a few inches apart from each other’s lips. 

“Do you guys have something to tell us or are you just that drunk and horny?” Came Pidge’s voice from the living room and Lance jolted, snapped out of whatever little bubble he and Shiro had been in to remember that actually, the kitchen was very visible from the living room and it was mostly open plan, and everyone was staring at them. Hunk was clearly trying not to laugh. 

“A little bit of-” Lance said, being cut off by Shiro’s lips against his, pressing him back against the kitchen counter, kissing him hard, hungrily, like he was _dying_ for it. 

Lance moaned softly, looping an arm around his neck and pulling him closer, all thoughts of anyone else far from his mind, just completely wrapped up in Shiro, because _god_ he’d missed him. 

“This was not the plan.” Lance murmured as they broke apart and Shiro smiled, pressing a soft succession of kisses to his lips. 

“Screw the plan.” He murmured back, gently biting at Lance’s lower lip. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Lance said back, gently stroking at the nape of his neck and pressing another kiss to his lips. “Ready to go and deal with everyone’s questions?” He asked with a smile and Shiro gave a small hum.

“Well, I suppose as ready as I can be.” 

Lance smiled and laced their fingers together, giving him a soft smile and one more gentle kiss, before grabbing up the wine bottle and taking it back into the living room. 

“Lance, when you said you were seeing someone, I didn’t think you meant this.” Allura said expectantly, raising an eyebrow. 

“Technically, _you_ said I was seeing someone.” He said with a shrug, letting Shiro pull him into his lap as they sat down on the sofa, opening the wine and passing the bottle around to fill up everyone’s glasses.

“When did this…? Shiro-? You didn’t-?” Keith said, looking bewildered and Shiro looked a little guilty. 

“We didn’t… wanna tell anyone for a little bit. It’s been… not that long, really.”

“Since Ella’s school play, I guess.” Lance said softly. “I mean, we didn’t- get back together then, we just- uh- yeah. Anyway, you know, it’s not… been easy. We wanted to tell you guys before, we just… it’s something we had to figure out on our own before we told anyone.”

“Does Ella know?” Pidge asked, clearly remembering what had happened last time she’d found out. 

“Uh, yeah. She found out about two weeks ago. We’re not very good at being subtle, it seems.” He said and Pidge rolled her eyes. 

“This is a good thing, right?” She asked earnestly. “I mean… last time, you said…”

Shiro huffed a laugh and pressed a kiss to Lance’s shoulder. “Did you go around telling everyone that under _no_ circumstances would you _ever_ be getting back together with me?”

Lance flushed and huffed. “ _No_ , Pidge was _there_ when I said it. And I told you, I didn’t say it like that.”

“I’m just teasing, sweetheart.” 

“Anyway.” Lance said, biting his lip and running a hand through his hair. “I know you guys are probably… worrying about this. I mean, I would be. I was. I think we both were. But… we love each other, and… we never should have split up. But it’s going to be okay this time, no matter what.” He said, leaning back against Shiro and nuzzling him gently. 

Shiro held him close and kissed his cheek, and everyone nodded. 

“Well, I think that’s a good note to end the evening on.” Allura said, stretching. 

“We still have more wine.” Keith said, pouting and Allura laughed, rolling her eyes.

“There’ll be more tomorrow, but we don’t want to be _that_ hung over, do we? Come on.” She said, getting up and pulling him up with her. 

Lance stayed curled up with Shiro on the couch past everyone else retiring to bed and eventually they got up to pull the bed out. 

“I’m gonna go and check on Ella.” Lance said softly, padding up the stairs and pushing the door open, going over to the bed and re-tucking her in. He brushed her hair off of her face and kissed her forehead before going back out, pulling the door behind him and rejoining Shiro downstairs. 

“I missed you.” Shiro mumbled, pulling Lance down onto the bed with him, quickly pulling his shirt off and pressing his face into the curve of his neck. 

“I missed you too, angel.” Lance said softly back, playing with his hair and giving a soft contented sigh. 

“My lease is up next month.” He murmured. 

“Yeah?” Lance asked softly, biting his lip.

“Yeah.”

“Come back to us, then.” He said softly and Shiro held him tighter. 

“Mean it?”

“Of course.” Lance smiled, tracing patterns onto Shiro’s back with his fingertips. “I miss you. I love you, and I want you back home. And I don’t wanna have to say goodbye and sleep without you anymore.”

Shiro kissed up his neck to his lips, smiling against them. “Me neither.” He said gently. 

“It’s settled then.” He said, laying down and pulling Shiro with him. 

“That sounds good.”

“It does.”

They lay in a comfortable silence for a few moments, just snuggled against each other until Shiro spoke up again. 

“Let’s have a baby.” He murmured and Lance blinked. 

“A baby?” He asked doubtfully. “We could always get a dog.”

“Laaaaaaance.” Shiro whined, huffing against his neck. 

“You want another baby?” Lance asked, turning to look at him. 

“Unless you really, really don’t.” Shiro said with a small frown. 

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, I just… hadn’t really thought about it.” He said and Shiro bit his lip with a smile. 

“Let’s have another baby.” He said, an excitement in his voice. 

“Let’s think about it.”

“Let’s make a baby right now.” Shiro said, swinging one leg over Lance’s until he was straddling his lap. 

“Takashi, sweetheart, you know we can’t _actually_ make a baby, right?” Lance asked amusedly, resting his hands on Shiro’s hips. 

“We can sure as hell try.” Shiro murmured as he leaned down to press their lips together. 

Lance laughed softly, kissing him back for a few moments. “I’m not carrying the baby.” Lance said, raising an eyebrow and Shiro pouted. 

“But I wanna fuck you.” He whined. 

Lance snorted. “Babe, we’re in the living room of our best friends house, while our other best friends and our daughter are upstairs, and probably not everyone’s asleep yet. You reaaaaally wanna have sex?”

“Uh huh.” Shiro nodded and Lance rolled his eyes. 

“I think _you’re_ the baby.”

Shiro gave a mock gasp of offence. “Rude. Babies don’t wanna fuck their husbands, Lance.” He said and Lance hummed. 

“Well, that’s true, but you whine enough to be one.”

“You’re so meaaan.” Shiro pouted, pressing his forehead into Lance’s neck with another small whine. 

“I’m only telling the truth.” Lance grinned, gently cupping the back of Shiro’s head and petting his hair. 

“So am I!” Shiro whined, though Lance could feel him smiling against his skin. 

Lance laughed softly, and didn’t reply, taking the lapse in conversation as an opportunity to roll them over, and straddle Shiro’s lap, looking down at him with a raised eyebrow. 

Shiro looked up at him, eyes slightly narrowed as he tried to figure out what Lance was up to, moving his hands to rest on Lance’s hips, dipping his fingers under the waistband of his pyjama pants. 

“Are you really that horny, baby?” Lance asked, a teasing lilt to his voice and Shiro pouted and nodded. “Aw, poor little baby.” Lance cooed. “You just want somewhere to put that pretty cock of yours, don’t you, baby?” 

Shiro whined, breathing a small huff. “Don’t tease me…”

Lance made a non committal noise in response, carefully shifting his hips in Shiro’s lap, moving them over him in a soft steady grind, lips curling as Shiro’s breath hitched, and the longer he kept it up, the more he could feel Shiro’s cock filling out beneath him. 

“Lance…” Shiro breathed, gently rocking his hips up to meet Lance’s, grip on his hips becoming a little tighter. 

“Someone could come downstairs.” Lance reasoned, already a little breathless himself, own cock having perked up considerably in interest. 

“We’re married.” Shiro countered and Lance hummed. 

“Not an excuse.” He said, sliding his hands over Shiro’s chest, under the hem of his shirt. 

“Please, Lance.” Shiro said through a soft breathy huff, looking up at him lovingly and Lance couldn’t resist. 

They shouldn’t. They really, really, shouldn’t, because they were in the middle of the living room, and anyone could come down, hell, anyone could _hear_ them from upstairs. 

But Lance found himself slipping out of his lap, anyway, grabbing his toiletry bag up from on the floor and getting the little bottle of lube out that he always kept in there, and a condom. 

He slipped out of his pyjama pants and pulled Shiro’s down too, before settling back in his lap and slicking his fingers. He made quick work of stretching himself, not stopping to tease himself like he normally would have, just focusing on getting himself open enough for Shiro’s cock to comfortably slide into him, using his other hand to wrap around both of their lengths and slowly work over them.

Once he was ready he pulled his fingers from himself and unwrapped the condom, glaring at Shiro as he opened his mouth. 

“Non negotiable.” He said, rolling it down over Shiro’s cock and sitting up a little, nudging Shiro’s cock at his entrance before slowly sinking down onto it, both of their lips parting in silent moans as he went. 

Shiro bit down on his lip, gripping Lance’s hips tightly, own hips already bucking a little, Lance giving a soft whimper as his cock shifted inside of him. 

“Stay quiet.” Lance reminded him, as he slowly began to rock his hips, slowly at first, and then building up. 

Shiro was already a little breathless, but doing a good job of keeping himself quiet, and Lance was much the same, head thrown back and lips parted, breathing heavily as he fucked himself on Shiro’s cock, but not letting any other sounds escape him.

If anyone were to come down right about now it would be terrible, and maybe Lance hadn’t chosen the best position, as he’d be the one entirely on display, but he figured that as long as he could control the pace, then he could keep them quiet. 

Not that he didn’t trust Shiro, but he didn’t trust Shiro. Shiro’s inhibitions were a lot less than Lance’s when it came to having sex in places other than the privacy of their bedroom, and he would decidedly care a lot less if someone _were_ to find them in this state. Hell, he’d probably like it a little bit. 

And the amount that Lance was finding he was caring was growing less and less by the second, choking out a whimper as Shiro’s cock dragged over his prostate, rocking his hips to try and replicate the movement, face screwing up in pleasure. 

Shiro slid his hands over Lance’s sides, fingertips dragging over his skin as Lance rode his cock. Lance was rocking his hips at a quick pace, fucking himself over Shiro’s cock quickly, making no time for teasing as he knew that if someone _did_ come down, then he might not care while Shiro’s cock was filling him up so nicely, but he would definitely care again in the morning. So making his objective their orgasms was important, clenching around Shiro’s cock as he rolled his hips, sinking back down onto it and taking it in again, whining breathlessly. 

“Shh, baby.” Shiro murmured, hands at his waist, helping him over his cock, stroking his skin as he fucked himself on it. 

Lance breathed another tiny whimper as Shiro’s cock brushed into his prostate, Lance’s body jerking a little, and Shiro slid his hands over his skin, making small soothing shhing noises.

“Shh, baby, come on, I’ve got you.” Shiro murmured as he rocked his hips up, fucking his cock deep into him and Lance whined, biting his lip. 

“Shiro…” He moaned, resting his hands on Shiro’s chest to steady himself and Shiro rocked his hips, cock angled perfectly inside of him, and Shiro reached down to wrap a hand around his cock, thumbing through his leaking slit and jerking him off quickly. 

Lance gasped harshly, head falling forwards as he fucked himself over Shiro’s cock, bringing a hand up to his mouth to cover over it as Shiro’s cock dragged over his prostate repeatedly, insides fluttering around Shiro’s cock as he got closer and closer. 

Shiro quickly worked his hand over his cock, squeezing around it and Lance whimpered, body jerking as he came, moaning brokenly behind his hand, cum landing in ropes over Shiro’s chest. 

Shiro groaned, eyes fluttering closed as Lance clenched around him and his hips bucked, Lance gasping with a soft whimper as Shiro fucked his cock against Lance’s prostate again, fucking up into him quickly as he chased his orgasm. 

Shiro reached out for him, pulling Lance down over his chest and wrapping his arms around him, Lance pressing his face into Shiro’s neck and using the skin there to muffle himself as Shiro quickly fucked up into him, cock reaching deep inside of him. 

Shiro panted against him, hips bucking quickly, stuttering as he got closer, Lance consistently clenching around him and whimpering from the overstimulation. Shiro groaned, gently biting down on Lance’s shoulder to muffle himself, burying his cock deep inside of him as he came, Lance desperately wishing that they didn’t need to condom so that Shiro’s cum could fill him up nice and deep. 

They lay there for a good few moments, panting and clinging to each other until their breathing calmed and Lance rolled off of Shiro, reaching into his bag to get some tissues out to clean them down, and Shiro rolled off the condom and tied it off. 

Lance curled against Shiro’s side and Shiro wrapped his arm around him, kissing his head, smiling against his skin.

“Do you feel pregnant yet?” Shiro asked and Lance snorted, slapping his chest. 

“Shut up! I already told you that you’re the one being pregnant!” He said, and Shiro giggled, burying his face in Lance’s neck.

“Can we really have another baby?” Shiro asked softly and Lance hummed.

“Let’s talk about it again once you’re all settled back with us, yeah?” He asked, gently kissing his lips. 

“Is that a yes?”

Lance laughed softly and kissed him again. “Why d’you want another baby so much?”

“I don’t know…” Shiro said, frowning softly. “I just wanna have a baby with you.” He said, nuzzling him. “And I wanna do it right all the way.”

“Darling…” Lance said softly, stroking his cheek. “We will, I promise.” 

“Yeah?” Shiro asked with a small smile. “And we can get a puppy too, right?” 

“Mmmmmm, I think so.” Lance said with a small grin. 

“I love you.” Shiro murmured, kissing his head.

“I love you too.” Lance smiled back and then hummed. “They’re gonna know we had sex.” Lance mumbled sleepily and Shiro gave a small laugh. 

“Good.”

Lance laughed and slapped his chest again. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Shiro defended, holding Lance closer against him. 

Lance laughed and kissed his collar bone, closing his eyes and Shiro relaxed against him after a few moments. 

“Sleep well, baby.” Lance murmured and Shiro gave a small sleepy hum. 

“Mm, you too.” He said through a yawn, kissing Lance’s head and both of them were asleep in moments.

 

***

 

Lance was woken the next morning by hushed voices, making a small sleepy sound of displeasure at being woken up and trying to bury himself further against Shiro to block out the noise. 

“Yeah, that’s gonna take some getting back used to.” Came Keith’s voice and Lance grumbled, trying to decipher what direction it was coming from and flipping him off. 

Keith snorted and Lance gave a small contented hum, nuzzling against Shiro. 

“I’m still mad you didn’t tell me.” Keith said, and Lance figured that that was directed to Shiro, rather than him, and he felt Shiro shrug. 

“You’re mad? I’m mad!” Came Allura’s voice and Lance huffed. Why were they all up so early trying to annoy him? He was just trying to cuddle with his husband and get some more sleep. 

“Fuck off, ‘Lura.” Lance mumbled against Shiro’s skin, decidedly not opening his eyes and he felt Shiro laugh, and stroke his fingers through his hair. 

“Well, it still stands that I need all the details.” She said and Lance cracked an eye open. 

“Even the sexy ones?” He asked and she narrowed her eyes. 

“Especially the sexy ones.” 

“Ella still upstairs?” He asked and she nodded, feeling Shiro tense under him. “Shiro fucked me against our front door the other day and then against the kitchen counter.”

“Lance!” Shiro scolded lightly, but there was no bite to it. 

Lance looked up at him, giving him a sleepy grin. “There was also the car- a few times… you would have liked to at the ice rink if I hadn’t made us leave… also would have on a picnic blanket right in the open if we hadn’t moved to the car…” Lance hummed carefully and Keith made a noise. 

“That’s enough, thanks.” He said, wrinkling his nose and Lance snorted.

“There was one more on that list, but if you’re sure.”

“Oh god, no.” Keith said and Lance grinned at him. “The _couch?_ Guys, really?”

“We were making a baby.” Shiro pouted and Lance snorted.

“Takashi, darling, you were wearing a condom.”

Shiro gave him a look. “They’re only eight five percent effective, Lance.” He said, as if Lance should have known that. 

“Right, yes, of course, I’m pregnant.” Lance said and Shiro giggled, burying his face in his neck and peppering his skin with kisses. 

“Disgusting.” Keith said and Allura whacked his arm.

“It’s sweet.” She said. “It’s a lot better than last year.”

“Please stop bringing that up.” Shiro grimaced, pouting at them. 

“Yes, yes, sorry, all forgotten.” Allura said, waving him off. “Well, you two had better get dressed and Keith will make a start on breakfast, won’t you, sweetie?”

Keith huffed and nodded, shooting Shiro and Lance another glare before heading into the kitchen. 

“You’re a saint for putting up with him, ‘Lu, you really are.” Lance said with a sweet smile, giggling as he heard Keith grumbling from the kitchen. 

“You fucked on my couch.” He said, poking his head back around. 

“Well, yes, there is that minor detail.” Lance grinned. “Now, shoo, unless you want an eyeful, I’m getting up now, and I _am_ naked.”

Keith wrinkled his nose and got safely back in the kitchen, starting to work on breakfast and Allura sauntered out of the room and back up the stairs, no doubt to wake Pidge and Hunk up. 

Lance made to get up, but Shiro grabbed his waist, pulling him back down. 

“What?” Lance asked with a smile as Shiro refused to let go, holding him close. 

“Nothing.” Shiro hummed, smiling softly at him. “I just love you.”

“I love you, too.” Lance said, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. “Now, let me get up.”

“Mmm, no.” Shiro said, shaking his head and tightening his grip, Lance squirming before finally giving up and going limp against him. “I’m not done cuddling you yet.”

Lance laughed, nuzzling his jaw and gently brushing his lips over his skin. “You’re gonna have to be, everyone’s coming down. You can cuddle me again when we’re dressed, okay?”

“But I like being naked with you.” Shiro pouted, sliding his hands down to cup Lance’s ass just to prove it. 

“Really? I had no idea.” Lance deadpanned and Shiro giggled. 

“If you’re lucky I’ll let you suck my dick later, but only if you’re good.” He said and Shiro perked up a little. “And if you’re really, _really_ good, I might even return the favour.” He promised, and Shiro finally let go, watching as Lance got up and pulled his clothes on. 

Lance looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and Shiro huffed, getting up and doing the same. 

“There’s a good boy.” Lance cooed, squishing his cheeks and kissing his lips. “Can you put the couch back together for me? I’ll go and wake sleeping beauty.”

Shiro nodded and Lance headed up the stairs, finding Ella in front of the mirror, trying to do the zip up on her dress. 

“Hey, beautiful, what are you doing?” He asked with an affectionate smile, crouching down next to her. 

“I’m trying to put my princess dress on!” She said frustratedly. “But I can’t do it…”

“It’s okay, I can help.” Lance said, moving her hair to the side and uncatching her undershirt from where it had caught in the zip and zipping it up. “Better?”

“Thanks, papa.” She smiled, putting her arms around his neck. 

Lance smiled, hugging her in return and standing up, lifting her into his arms. “How are you feeling?” He asked. 

“Christmassy!” She said and Lance laughed. 

“Good, you should be, it’s Christmas Eve, after all. Tell you what, why don’t you tell everyone your secret today as an early Christmas present?”

“You really mean it? Can I? Can I?”

“You can. You wanna tell me what you’re going to say?”

“Um… that daddy’s coming back!” 

“Uh huh, that’s right.” Lance smiled, kissing her cheek and carrying her downstairs, finding everyone in the kitchen, sat around the table nursing coffee’s. 

“Hey princess.” Shiro said with a smile as he saw them, and Lance deposited her into his lap. “That’s a very pretty dress you’ve got on. 

“Everyone, I have a secret!” She announced, ignoring what Shiro had said and everyone turned to look at her. “Um.” She said, biting her lip shyly and looking around. “Daddy and papa love each other again and daddy’s gonna come back and live with us again.” She said, smile widening as she said the words. 

“That’s amazing.” Hunk said with a warm smile and Ella nodded. 

They all took their turns congratulating them, and Ella seemed very pleased to have been the one to deliver the news. 

“Daddy, daddy, can you make pancakes?” Ella asked, bouncing in his lap and Shiro glanced to Keith. 

“You gotta ask Uncle Keith if he’s happy to give up his duty as breakfast maker, princess.” He said and Ella pouted. 

“Please, please, please? You and me can play princesses instead!” She said and Keith laughed softly. 

“Okay, come on then.” He said, offering her a hand, to which she eagerly took. 

“Everybody’s gotta come too!” She said, bouncing on the balls of her feet and no one could say no, heading out into the living room and leaving Lance and Shiro in the kitchen. 

“I think you count as everybody, baby.” Shiro said, standing up and raising an eyebrow and Lance rolled his eyes with a smile. 

“I think she can make do without me.” He said, walking over to Shiro and wrapping his arms around his waist, leaning up to give him a soft kiss. “Besides, I think we all remember what happened last time you tried to flip the pancakes.”

Shiro pouted and Lance kissed him again. “No fair.” He whined. 

“What’s not fair?” Lance asked with a smile against his lips. 

“I can’t be mad at you for being mean to me if you’re kissing me.” He said and Lance breathed a soft laugh, pressing gentle kisses to his lips again and again and again. 

“Maybe that was the plan.” He said and Shiro slid an arm around Lance’s waist. 

“Oh yeah?” He asked, pulling him close and kissing him a little more firmly. 

“Oi, you too, that doesn’t look like pancakes to me.” Pidge said from the doorway, raising an eyebrow at them and Shiro and Lance giggled. 

Lance lightly slapped Shiro’s ass and moved over to the counter. “Come on, babe, your little princess is hungry.”

Shiro followed him over, helping him make a start on the pancakes. “Would you really wanna get married again?” He asked after a few moments.

Lance looked at him and made a deliberating noise. “Well, we never actually got divorced, so… I don’t know that that’s exactly legal.”

“We could renew our vows.” Shiro suggested with a shrug and Lance stopped working on the pancake mix to look at him with a tilted head and a small smile. 

“Yeah? You’d wanna do that?” He asked. 

“I think so.” Shiro nodded.

Lance smiled softly, leaning up to kiss him again. “Me too.”

“Would you actually wanna go on another honeymoon?” He asked, smiling against Lance’s lips. 

“I don’t know, could we afford it?” Lance hummed.

“Is that a deciding factor?” Shiro asked with a smile and Lance smiled back.

“Maybe.”

“Then I’m sure we can figure something out.” He said and Lance smiled, biting his lip. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Shiro nodded, meeting him half way this time for another kiss. 

“I love you.” Lance said softly. 

“I love you too.” Shiro said back, before bringing a hand to cup Lance’s face and Lance’s eyes widened. 

“You did not just do that.” He said and Shiro’s giggle gave him away. 

“Do what?” He asked innocently and Lance narrowed his eyes, though there was a wide smile on his lips, dipping his hand into the bag of flower and flinging some at Shiro. “Lance!”

“Paybacks a bitch, babe.” He grinned, as Shiro coated his hands again, before cupping Lance’s face and pulling him in for a deep kiss. 

“Yeah, it really is.” He agreed, and Lance laughed, melting against him and kissing him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's it!! thank you to everyone whose stuck with this i do love this au so so much and im sad that its over as much as i am relieved!
> 
> they went on to definitely having another baby, and definitely getting a puppy or two, and definitely having amazing sex for the rest of their lives (dont get me started on the honeymoon, or when ella's old enough to understand sex so that they have to actually be sneaky) they had a really pretty vow renewal and it was really sweet. keith cried (and so did shiro) and they did end up going to a really pretty hotel with a really pretty beach, though admittedly, they didn't get to experience it maybe as much as they could have if you know what i mean ;)
> 
> as always, comments are greatly appreciated and thank you all for reading <3


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